


Love The Way You Hurt Me

by MissBookworm1704



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Forbidden Love, Friends to Lovers, Good Slytherins, Implied Sexual Content, Major Original Character(s), Male-Female Friendship, Mild Language, Muggle-born, Slow Burn, please read its not nearly as bad as you think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 16:59:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 58,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15101120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissBookworm1704/pseuds/MissBookworm1704
Summary: She's the first Muggle-born Slytherin in half-a-century. He's the heir to one of the richest and supremacist pureblood families in Britain. They have no reason to be in each other's business, yet alone form a scandalous, but passionate relationship full of love, heartbreak, and pain, all while fighting in a war. But yet, that's exactly what they do. Set during CoS and beyond. Reuploaded to AO3 for backup reasons.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Reuploaded here from Fanfiction.Net. I want to put it here just in case, and will upload every chapter on here.

Chapter 1: Prologue

Georgia Newton was a girl with a plan.

She would leave her small town, move to America to go to Yale or Harvard or some other Ivy League University, spend a good 8 years there studying, getting married in the meantime. After she got all her degrees, she would continue work at the university, but in the labs. After discovering a cure for cancer, she would travel the world, have 4 kids, and practise her Nobel Prize acceptance speech. After which, she would be known to the world as the Great Dr. Georgia Newton. Success was her one goal. She was determined to meet this goal.

Until it was all ruined.

The date was April 9, 1992. Her birthday. Georgia was up in her room right before it all happened, surrounded in books, but playing on her Gameboy. She was, peculiar, one might say. Her walls covered with stuff like pictures of her and her best friend, the Periodical Table of Elements, and the Daffy Duck poster hanging on the wall by her desk, covered in clothes and word search books. She preferred to be in her room, but when she did talk, you could never get her to stop.

She was also a very lovely-looking girl. With straight brown hair that went past her shoulder blades, hazel eyes, and purple and blue glasses that complemented her look, she had heard that many boys in the town had fancied her for years. She remembers how Jeremy Thomson tried to kiss her back in kindergarten. He had later lied about the whole ordeal and said that Georgia tried to kiss him, and it ended up with her gaining a reputation and being teased about it. Her and Jeremy are friends nowadays, and she's starting to notice how handsome he actually is.

Then, it happened. There was a knock on the door, her mum shouting "Coming!", some mingling in the doorway with a man's voice Georgia didn't recognise and her mum shouting at her to come down. Georgia slammed down the Gameboy, and left her room the very last time with her perfect life plan. Little did she know her life was going to change drastically.

She ran down the stairs, confused by the sight she saw. Her mum, looking rather bewildered, her dad, looking offended, and a very tall man with a brown bushy beard, carrying a pink umbrella, all sitting around the kitchen table with cups of tea. Her mum motioned her to sit down at the table with them.

The man's name was Hagrid. Georgia found that name strange, but didn't care. It was better than her middle name. Ericka Stanson, the school's gossip, was punched in the nose for daring to ask her about it.

He didn't explain who he was, but instead handed her a letter. The letter was titled to her, and was sealed with a very formal looking red wax seal with some kind of crest on it.

"Go on now, open it!" Hagrid said.

Georgia complied.

"What does it say?" her mum asked.

"Dear Miss Georgia Newton, you have been accepted to…. You're joking, right?" Georgia exclaimed.

"Nope. Sure as ev'r" Hagrid said

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? What kind of sick joke is this?"

That letter changed her whole life.

She didn't even know she was magical. Never showed any signs, and if she did, she must have thought they were in her dreams.

Now here she was, in front of the entrance to King's Cross Station, in London. She took a deep breath, as she walked through the doors, hoping to find someone to tell them where Platform 9 ¾ was. When Georgia first read her ticket, she thought it was a big joke, but Hagrid told her that there are much more things in the wizarding world that will leave her the same way she felt then.

As far as she knows, everyone at home thinks she is going to a boarding school, which is kind of right, except Josie Carlson, her best friend and pretty much the only trustworthy 11-year-old in the whole town. Josie had said many times before about the stories her gran would tell her about the Wizarding World, about the evil Lord Voldemort and how he was defeated by a baby boy named Harry Potter. Georgia never believed in them, but Josie always did, so Georgia felt obligated to tell her all about Hogwarts and the visit from Hagrid. Josie was all smiles listening to her, sometimes exclaiming things like "I knew it!" and "It is true!"

A few days ago, they went to a place called Diagon Alley last week. Turns out it was a whole wizarding marketplace, you could say. She got everything she needed there, her robes, her books, her wand. Her mum even insisted that they stop at a magical pet store and get her a good luck present. Georgia chose a beautiful female black cat with emerald-green eyes. She named her Chaton after what her gran used to call her. It was French for "kitten", she had said. Diagon Alley was just her introduction to the Wizarding World.

Her family walked towards Platform 9, hoping to find this Platform 9 ¾, when they saw some people, rolling carts with trunks and owls in cages, rushing towards a wall, saying stuff like "Come on, Platform 9 ¾ is down here!" Georgia stared as she witnessed a kid run through the wall, pushing a luggage cart. After a few other people went through, Georgia lined up with the wall, motioned her parents to follow, and ran. She went through the wall, and out the other side, was a old fashioned train that said "Hogwarts Express" on the front, and a wave of kids and parents, some dressed in regular people clothing, others dressed in robes. Hanging from the side of the building, was the sign "Platform 9 3/4", so she knew this was the right place. She looked at the clock on the wall, and saw that the train was about ready to leave.

Georgia went up to her parents, and hugged them both. She noticed her mum had tears in her eyes.

"We love you Georgie! Remember to write!" Her mum exclaimed as she pulled away, and walked towards the train. She wanted to find a quite place to read up on all the wizarding things she'd need to

know, and maybe do some word searches. She found enjoyment in puzzles, but word searches were her favorite. She hopped on the train, rolling her luggage down the aisle, looking for an empty compartment. Obviously, she got on a bit too late. To her dismay, the only empty one she could find was at the very end of the train. She put away her luggage and got out her books. She got settled in for a long ride when a voice spoke up.

"Hey, beat it, princess. This is our compartment."

Georgia looked up to see who the voice belonged to. A blonde-haired boy, accompanied by two boys on either side of him, one fat, one skinny. All were dressed in robes of green and silver. The blonde and Georgia gained eye contact, and little did they know, this would be the start of their life together, their friendship, and many happy years of love and laughter. The life they'll both secretly want for many following years.

They just didn't know it yet.


	2. Chapter 1

"Excuse me?" Georgia piped up, complete disbelief and anger written on her face.

"Yeah, you heard me. Out you go." the boy snapped back. He didn't look any older than twelve, but certainly acted twice his age.

"What makes you think you're any better than me?" Georgia retorted, standing up. She was usually rather nice, but in situations like this, she often got very defensive.

"Is there something messed up in that little head of yours, princess? Because I said to leave, and obviously you're deaf."

"I'm not leaving until I know who you are and why you are trying to force me out of the area that, since I was here first, is my claimed personal space."

"Your claimed personal space? What is this, some turf war?"

"Just shut up and sit your bloody arse down." She snapped. Obviously not wanting to sit on the floor, he obeyed, sitting down next to Georgia, and the other two boys sat opposite them. Georgia didn't know why, but she could not stop staring at this boy. He wasn't the most attractive, but he was kind of good-looking. With his short blonde hair gelled back and striking grey eyes, he radiated an aura of self-confidence and poise.

Everything was awkwardly silent for a few moments, then Georgia broke the calm by asking, "So, really, who are you?"

He stared at her for a second, startled at the sudden question, took a deep breath, then answered "The name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. This is Crabbe" He said, beckoning towards the chubby boy currently occupied by picking a scab on his arm. At the mention of his name, he immediately abandoned his scab-picking and looked up." And Goyle." He finished, gesturing at the skinny boy now looking at Georgia's word search book.

"Nice to know." Georgia uttered slowly. "I'm Georgia Newton. Georgia as in the state in the USA, and Newton like the last name of Sir Isaac Newton. No relation, though. Oh, and Fig Newtons." She spoke, her talkativeness activated.

"I don't know of the last name Newton. You're a Mudblood, aren't you?" Draco sniggered. Georgia didn't know what this meant, so she let it slide as she picked up her book and looked for the term.

"Well, obviously you are. Look, book on wizarding terms, plastic glasses frames, a cartoon character on your shirt..." He said, looking at her Snoopy t-shirt. Noticing he had his robes on, she made a note to herself that if he calls her something mean again (As she read that 'Mudblood' was a derogatory name for Muggle (Non-magic people)-borns, like her.) to excuse herself to put hers on. She was going to ask why their robes are green and silver, but she didn't really want to engage in conversation with them at the moment.

"Shut up before I slap you, you jerk." Georgia snapped. He almost instantly stopped talking. When she was mad, you didn't want to mess with her.

She continued reading her book, until she heard somebody pull up to her door. "Treats, anyone?' she heard, and saw Draco pull out some wizard money from his pocket and say, "Three Chocolate Frogs, and a pack of Every Flavor Beans." She noticed a lady with a cart filled with candy at their compartment door. She had some wizard money, from when they went to Diagon Alley. She kept things safe and asked for two Chocolate Frogs. Besides, what could have been done to a little bit of chocolate? She handed her two Sickles (as she remembered what they were called) and the lady gave her her chocolate. To her surprise, when she opened it, it started hopping all over the place. She caught it just before it hopped out of the open door, and bit its head off. Draco was smirking at her, as he handed Crabbe and Goyle each a frog.

"Bet you didn't see that coming." He sneered. Georgia ignored this, and continued eating her frog, while reading her book. She decided then to go get changed, so she got up, shimmied past Draco, and walked towards the bathroom. After her robes were on, she looked in the mirror and took a deep breath. She looked the same, but different at the same time. This was it, her new life.

She returned to her seat, and just stared out the window, admiring the green Scotland hills. Before she knew it, she slowly started to drift off to sleep, like she normally does during long trips.

She woke up a while later, and found her head awkwardly leaning on Draco's shoulder. She quickly moved her head and looked out the window. She noticed that they were approaching a huge, impressive castle. This must be it, she thought. As the train pulled into the station, she gathered her things up, and stood up. As she got out of the train, she heard Hagrid shouting "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" She could easily notice him in the wave of students, so she pushed her way through everyone to him.

"Well, 'ello there, Georgia. Come this way now, to those boats over ther'" He smiled at her. She felt some sort of warm feeling knowing he remembered her.

After all the first years had gathered by the boats, he helped them climb in. Georgia sat in the second row in the second boat beside a blonde girl with a rather dazed look, and orange turnip earrings. Little did they both know, but they would eventually become the best of friends, alongside another girl with fiery red hair that sat a row behind them.

Soon enough, the boats set sail across the lake in the darkness. The blonde girl was now holding a lantern.

"Hello there." The girl said suddenly, startling Georgia, who had been locked in a daze looking at the sights.

"Uh, hi." Georgia replied.

"My name's Luna Lovegood. What's yours?"

"Um, Georgia Newton."

"Georgia, that's a pretty name. I like it." Luna said dreamily.

"Yours is nice too…" Georgia responded awkwardly.

"I also like your glasses."

"Uh, thank you. I, um, like your earrings. They're very, um, unique."

"Thank you. Daddy got them for me for my birthday last year. I really like them a lot."

"That's nice." Georgia said.

Well, that was… interesting, she thought.

Before they knew it, they had reached the shore, and Hagrid was helping students out. Georgia climbed out, eager to get away from that Luna character.

"It was nice to meet you, Georgia. I hope to see you around sometime." Luna called out.

"Uh, nice meeting you too. See you around." Georgia said as they got lost in the crowd of first-years. Hagrid escorted them into the castle and up some stairs. At the top, there was an old witch with a pointy had and hair in a tight bun, dressed in robes of green, behind a big pair of doors.

"They're all yours, Professor McGonagall." Hagrid said, as he left down a hallway. Professor McGonagall turned to them and began to say "Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Through these doors is the Great Hall. This is where all meals will be served. You will find four long tables filled with students in the Great Hall. Each of these tables belongs to a house. There are four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. At Hogwarts, your house will be like your family. You will attend classes with your house, sleep in your house's dormitories, and spend free time in your house's common room. Through these doors is the Sorting Hat. When I call your name, come forward and put the hat on. When you've been sorted, go to your house's table. We'll be ready for you shortly."

Georgia now understood why Draco's robes were green and silver, but she didn't know which house he was in. She stood around, looking at the architecture, and secretly listening to kids gossiping about which house they thought they would be in.

"I sure hope I'm not Slytherin. You know they've produced the most Dark Wizards than any of the other houses combined!" she heard a boy tell his friend.

Well. I wouldn't, either, she thought.

Just then, Professor McGonagall reappeared, and everyone fell silent.

"We're ready for you now." She said, and pushed open the doors. She walked ahead, and motioned for the students to follow. The crowd moved ahead, and a chorus of "Ooo"s "Ahh"s and "Wow"s erupted as they moved down the hall. Georgia took in everything, from the starry-sky-looking ceiling, to the floating candles. But what she was really looking for was the house colors.

The crowd suddenly stopped. She noticed that the house tables were behind them, and right in front was what she presumed to be the staff table, as she saw Hagrid at the end of it. She looked at where McGonagall was standing, and saw a dusty old black hat on a stool. She was pretty shocked when it started singing out of a stitched-up bend for a mouth. Georgia didn't care what it was singing, though. She looked at the banners above the tables, and the colors.

Hufflepuff: Black and yellow. Nope; Gryffindor: Red and gold. No; Ravenclaw: Blue and gray. Definitely not.

Then she saw it.

Slytherin: Green and silver.

So, he was a Slytherin, eh? No wonder he was such an arse, she thought.

She didn't even notice that names were being called, until she heard, "Lovegood, Luna" and saw Luna walk up to the stool and McGonagall put the hat on her head. The hat stayed on for a good few moments until she heard it shout, "RAVENCLAW!" and the Ravenclaw table start cheering and clapping. She knew she would be up in less than a few minutes, so she tried not to drift off again in her little bubble of thought. She looked around the staff table instead. An old man with really long grey hair and beard, with half-moon glasses and odd robes sat at the highest seat, in the middle. She supposed he was the headmaster. She looked around the table and saw a man with a long nose and greasy black hair. She didn't know why, but she stared at him. She had that habit.

She suddenly heard, "Newton, Georgia!" called, and she walked up to the stool, and sat down. Professor McGonagall put the hat on her head and heard it say "Hmmm, interesting. Fair and just, but also determined and fearless. Trustworthy and wise, but also selfish and cunning. Where to put you, I don't know. Hmmm." As the Sorting Hat spoke to itself, Georgia looked over at Draco at the Slytherin table. Maybe he wasn't such a dirty pig after all? Maybe she could get to know him better, just maybe.

She thought these thoughts were to herself, but apparently no, because a minute later, the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"

No.

There must be some mistake! I wasn't serious!, she thought.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one who thought that, because the whole Great Hall was completely silent.


	3. Chapter 2

Georgia followed the group of Slytherins out the Great Hall and downstairs to the dungeons. Dinner was… eventful. After a few moments of silence, she heard a faint clapping, coming from the Ravenclaw table. Luna was cheering and saying, "I know that girl! She's my new acquaintance!" Slowly, the Slytherins started clapping unenthusiastically and lightly. She took off the hat, and slowly walked over to the table and sat down at the empty end seats, next to a first-year boy who was sorted earlier. The food was good, but she felt very awkward as she heard people gossiping at the Ravenclaw table next to them, talking about her.

Her.

They were all wondering how a Muggle-born like her would end up in Slytherin, because the last Muggle-born in the house was sorted almost forty years ago. They said that only purebloods and half-bloods made it into Slytherin, and she even heard some second and third-year Slytherins down the table, questioning if the Hat really meant to put her in their house. Georgia was overwhelmed and slightly hurt.

The one who seemed the most shocked was Draco. She tried to talk to him, but he pretended not to hear her. He was trying to keep his distance as they walked through the halls of the dungeons. Only first-years were in this group, but he and his cronies followed them anyways. Georgia wondered why.

They reached a wall, and one of the prefects leading the group proclaimed, "Salazar!". The wall opened to reveal a passageway. "Come this way!" The prefect said. They followed him through and into a dimly-lit room dressed in green and silver upholstery and furniture, the walls dressed in moving paintings of famous Slytherins past. The stone walls were covered in elaborate carvings. The green stained-glass windows displayed water on the other side, and she figured they must be under the big lake. At the end of the room, there was a cozy-looking fireplace with a serpent carved above the mantle and two archways on the sides opposite each other.

"Girls dormitories on the left, boys on the right." The prefect announced. Georgia walked to the left archway and through it into a small hallway with a door at the end. She opened the door to find five four-poster beds, dressed in green bedsheets and a green curtain, much like the ones on the green windows, on the bedframe to accompany them. Again, there were paintings, tapestries, and engravings like the common room, but all the people in the paintings were all women.

She stopped staring around when she noticed her luggage all by a bed almost in the middle that had a letter with her name on it, and Chaton's crate. She opened the door for the black cat, who stuck her head out and stared around for a moment, sniffing, then, after deciding it was safe, she walked out of her crate and jumped onto Georgia, who was now sitting on the bed, 's lap. She slowly stroked the cat as she looked around at the room, enjoying her time before her dormmates, who Georgia presumed were hanging out in the common room.

She pushed the cat off her lap and opened her baggage. She put the Muggle clothes and shoes that were for wearing on the weekends, in the dresser beside her bed. Then, she got out the posters and pictures she brought to remind her of home, and put them up. She hung her Daffy Duck poster on the wall above her pillow, along with a painting of two chickadees on a fence in the snow that her and Josie painted at an art class. She had a couple picture frames that she put on her dresser: one of her and her mum and dad, One of Josie and her at the local tea shop, their favorite hangout, and one of her Nana and Papa Newton, her dad's parents.

She suddenly remembered to write her parents, like her mum told her to, and grabbed a quill and some parchment that she bought in Diagon Alley, and sat on her bed, with a book underneath the parchment, and began to write.

Dear Mum and Dad,

Got here fine. Getting settled in now. The place is nice. Chaton's doing fine.

At the school here, we are sorted into different houses. I was sorted into the Slytherin house. The dormitories are lovely.

Write back soon,

Georgia.

She signed the letter and hopped off the bed, heading for the door. She was out the common room and halfway up the stairs when she wondered how she was to mail it. Slightly embarrassed, she slowly made her way back down the stairs, when she bumped into someone.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to..." She suddenly found herself face-to-face with Draco Malfoy. She blushed tomato red, hoping it was too dark for him to see her face, and slowly started gliding away. When out of his viewpoint, she ran back to the common room.

....Page_Break....

Draco couldn't say he wasn't hoping to run into her. To try to get a little more information on why she, of all people, would be sorted into Slytherin.

Like she would know the answer to that, Malfoy, he thought.

There was other room on the train with people he knew, but he was not ready to face Parkinson and her giggling clique, whose compartment he, Crabbe, and Goyle, just barely managed to slip past without being noticed. But he could only find one other compartment, which held the rather appealing girl that would introduce herself as Georgia Newton. He tried to get her out, but she wouldn't budge.

Georgia 1, Draco 0.

He eventually sat down, as he prepared for the worst train ride of his life, but it wasn't half bad. Except the part where she fell asleep on his shoulder and he sat awkwardly the whole time, unable to shift position.

Georgia 2, Draco 0.

Then, the sorting hat placed her in the last house you would expect her to go. He could've sworn she was a Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. His father won't be too pleased with the news.

Georgia 3, Draco 0.

He had to get away from Pansy and her little group of gossipers, who parked their butts beside Draco during the Welcome Feast, and were trying to get Greengrass to slip love potion inside that Hufflepuff fifth-year that all the girls are talking about, Diggory, wasn't it?, 's pumpkin juice. He motioned to Crabbe and Goyle to follow him, and he excused himself, lying that he was tired, and left for the common room, only to be caught in the pack of first-year Slytherins headed down to the dungeons.

Then he caught a glimpse of her. They gained eye contact, then he slowed down and allowed the group to go ahead a bit before continuing. He didn't know why, but he just wanted to talk to her, get to know her, although he disliked her. There was nothing wrong with that, cause after all, they are in the same house, and Slytherins are brothers. Brothers know everything about one another.

A little while later, he was sitting in the common room, writing a letter up to his mother and father, when he saw her leave. He told his friends he was leaving to mail his letter, but he was really trying to go see if maybe she showed any interest in conversation.

He was about to walk up the stairs when she bumped into him. "Sorry! I didn't mean to…" She stopped as she looked at him, and realized who she ran into. He saw her blush and run back to the common room.

Georgia 3, Draco 1.


	4. Chapter 3

By morning, nobody was talking about Georgia. At all.

The news about two second-year boys who literally drove a flying car to Hogwarts and drove it into the Whomping Willow had taken over. Everyone was talking about it. Georgia was astonished by the news when she heard it early that morning, as she was headed to breakfast. She heard bits and pieces on the way to the Great Hall, but her dormmate would clear everything up for her.

"Newton! Over here!" She heard as she walked into the Great Hall, and saw an arm waving over at the Slytherin table.

"Hold your horses, Freeman!" She shouted back as she ran to sit beside the owner of the arm.

"What do you want, Mercedes?" Georgia asked as she loaded her plate up with bacon and eggs.

"Did you hear about those boys? Potter and Weasley? The ones who crashed that car?" Mercedes asked. She was a half-blood and the most tolerable out of her dormmates, and her favorite. She was rather nice-looking, with black-to-blonde ombre hair and green eyes. Today she also wore silver earrings in the shape of a heart with emeralds doting the outline, that matched her robes quite nicely. Her robes, like Georgia's, had shown up folded on their dressers that morning, the same as they were before, except they now had the Slytherin crest on them, and the inside of the main robe was green. Their sweater vests, socks, skirts, and ties were now all grey, silver and green.

"Bits here and there." Georgia said as she was nibbling on an English muffin.

"Well, these boys decided to fly Weasley's dad's enchanted car, and they were doing good, up till the point that they crashed in the Whomping Willow tree. You know the one, you can see it out the window over there. Well, anyways, the car went berserk on them, and drove off, but not before the willow almost killed the boys. After that, Professor Snape found them and dragged them in. I heard that they're facing almost two weeks in detention, but, yet again, you can't really tell fact from myth around here. I personally think they should be expelled, but…" Mercedes detailed. "Oi! Summers!" She suddenly shouted. Willow Summers, another half-blood and the only other decent dormmate of theirs, walked her way to them. She had long wavy black hair and a gallon of makeup on. She and Mercedes were the only girls who didn't mind Georgia being a Muggle-born.

"Yeah? That Halliway girl was keeping me. Not the shy one, the nutty one." Willow sighed. The Halliways were twin sisters that were their dormmates. Asia had short auburn hair and was extremely shy, and Sammie had long hair of the same color and was a complete nut case, as Mercedes put it. Georgia never thought it could get worse with knowing Luna, but living with Sammie, let alone knowing her, is complete hell. She talks too much, says the wrong things at the wrong time, and brags about living in a high-class pureblood environment that she and Asia grew up in.

"Yeah, I understand. She was pestering me earlier as well. I didn't catch a word she said, I was too focused on getting out of there." Mercedes said. "I tried to tell her to shove it, but she just kept talking."

"I feel sorry for her sister. Having to put up with that for your whole life, then probably hoping to get sorted into a different house to get away from her, but still ending up together in the end." Georgia thought. Willow nodded, then turned to Mercedes.

"So, tell me, what's up with the car boys? I heard that Malfoy boy laughing about it to his little henchmen earlier." She asked. Mercedes began to chat with her, as Georgia started looking at people coming into the hall. Luna just dreamily drifted in, she noticed. Not long after her, came Draco and his cronies. He walked right past her, and sat at the other end of the table. Not surprising.

"Georgia? Did you hear me?" Willow was waving a hand in front of her eyes. Georgia looked back at them.

"Uh, what?"

"I said that Snape's handing out timetables. Lessons begin today, you know." Willow said.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot." Georgia said. She saw the greasy-black-haired teacher from last night walk down the table, handing out sheets of parchment. He handed the girls theirs, without so much as a glimpse of them.

"So, today, we got Potions with the Gryffindors in an hour, then later we got Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws, then tonight Astronomy with the Ravenclaws again." Mercedes proclaimed.

"It's gonna be a long day." Georgia sighed. "Well, I'm just going to head on my way, so-"

Just then, a swarm of owls flew into the Great Hall, all holding some kind of letter or package. So, that's how mail is sent. A barn owl perched down beside Mercedes, a letter tied to it's leg. She untied the letter, and the owl flew away.

"Do you know where I would be able to find more owls to send my letter?" Georgia asked.

"Yeah, the Owlery. It's that lone tower on the hill by the old wood bridge. Just use a school owl; the owned ones won't come down when you tell them unless they're yours." Willow told her. Georgia excused herself, and ran back to the common room to grab her letter. She looked at it for a moment, then decided to add, I've made a couple friends already, and have met some interesting people. Her mum would like to know that she's socializing.

She walked down to the Owlery, which was a small little tower filled with owls. The floor was covered in straw, droppings, and (Georgia flinched at this) regurgitated skeletons of rats and mice. Georgia tiptoed her way past the gross stuff, and looked up at all the owls. She decided to use a pretty brown barn owl with big eyes. Georgia gained eye contact with it, and motioned it to come down. The owl obeyed, and Georgia stroked its pretty feathers as she tied the letter around it's leg with some string.

"I bet you don't have a name, do you?" Georgia asked the bird, who looked at her with wide eyes. "I'm going to call you… um, what about Erwin? You look like an Erwin." The owl hooted in approval.

"Okay, Erwin, take this to my house. If you know where it is. And make sure they write back before you leave. They don't have access to owls like I do." Georgia told the owl. Erwin opened his wings and flew out the window. Georgia hiked back to the castle, and decided how she would spend the rest of the day after classes. She would sit around the fire in her common room with a good book, then explore the castle a bit, then write to Josie. Maybe do homework with Mercedes and Willow.

She was almost at the castle when she noticed Draco walking towards the old wooden bridge nearby. He was alone.

"Malfoy! Wait up!" She didn't know why she was doing this, but she kinda liked it.

Draco looked behind his shoulder at her in surprise. Georgia caught up with him, and smiled cheekily at him. What was wrong with her?

"Newton, what are you doing here?" he questioned her.

"I was coming back from the Owlery, when I saw you down here alone. I couldn't help myself. After all, we are in the same house. There's no reason why we can't talk every once in a while." Georgia said.

"Yeah… So, how are you liking the place?" Draco asked. Georgia could tell by his expression that he was embarrassed that he asked that.

"Um, it's nice."

"That's good."

"So, classes start today. How do you feel?" Georgia asked as they walked back to the castle together.

"Well, it means I get to see Potter, Weasel, and Mudblood Granger all the time again in class and in the halls, so, yeah. It's fun pestering them."

"Wait, Potter and Weasley? As in the flying car boys?"

"Yeah."

"Hold up. As in "Potter", you don't perhaps mean Harry Potter, do you?"

"Well, of course. Who else?"

"Just wondering." Georgia quickly said.

"Well, I better get going. What's your first class?"

"Charms in an hour with the Hufflepuffs. You?"

"Herbology with the Ravenclaws." He said.

"Well, see you around, then."

"Yeah, See you."

Georgia walked away, and somehow could not stop smiling.


	5. Chapter 4

Georgia walked along the halls, heading for the open area that heads down to the forest. It was Saturday and Georgia felt like she should pay Hagrid a visit. She visited him earlier in the week when she heard he lived in a little hut by the Forbidden Forest. He greeted her with a smile and invited her in for a cup of tea when she showed up Thursday evening. Now, she walked down the path that leads to his hut, and knocked on his door. She heard loud barking and a voice saying, "Comin'".

Hagrid opened the door, and smiled at Georgia. "Well, if it isn't my favri'te Slytherin! Come in, I'll make ya a cuppa." He said, and Georgia sat down at his table. Fang leaned against her knee, and she scratched behind his ear.

"How'r things goin'?" He handed her a cup of tea and sat down across from her.

"Pretty good. I'm enjoying the classes so far, but I'm not really fond of that Lockhart character." She sighed.

Professor Lockhart was her Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and a self-absorbed lunatic, as Willow called him. He bragged a lot about winning some stupid magazine thing five years in a row and heard he set pixies on the second-year Gryffindors and Slytherins, as Draco was talking about the other day. He, as she heard he did for the other classes, made them and the Ravenclaws do a dumb fifty-four question pop quiz on his autobiography. To her surprise, Willow got the most right out of the whole class, followed by Luna. Willow admitted that she just guessed based of his aura, which made Georgia a bit uncomfortable.

A teacher she liked much better was Professor McGonagall. She was the Transfiguration teacher and strict but fair. She turned into a cat for their first class! She made them do a lot of reading and note-taking before she had them turn a match into a needle, in which Georgia successfully did, to her surprise. Mercedes turned hers into a wooden needle, and Willow's needle still had the match head. `

Her other favorite teachers were Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, and Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher. Flitwick had them do the Levitating Charm, in which none of them got in the first lesson, but both Georgia and Mercedes got it on the next lesson. Professor Sprout was nice and talked about magical plants and showed them some plants with magical properties, but mostly what she showed were for use in potion-making.

Speaking of potions, the Potions class is probably her least favorite, second to the extremely boring History of Magic class. Despite being her Head of House, Georgia didn't much care for Professor Snape. He was stern and had the "aura of a grouchy old man" Willow whispered to them during their first class. But, she was glad that he went relatively easy on the Slytherins, despite him criticizing Sammie's lack of concentration and wondering out loud why she was put in his house, which made almost everyone giggle, especially the Gryffindors. He went hard on them and was being pretty mean to a red-headed girl Georgia saw on the boats last week, saying how she was no different then her brothers, and mentioned that one of them was a "flying car boy". Ah, she must be the sister to that Weasley boy, Georgia thought.

"Yea', I thought he wus a nutt'r. Wha's yer fav'rite class so far'?" Hagrid asked.

"Probably Charms. It's a fun class, and I really like Professor Flitwick."

"Really? I'm startin' to question that ol' hat, yer shoulda gone in Rav'nclaw, you'da done gud, with those brains o' yers. I don' know why it would ev'r put ya in Slytherin." Hagrid said. Georgia shrugged.

"I don't know, but I like it. Everyone says it's full of baddies, but almost everyone I met is descent, and doesn't act like their families were mates of You-Know-Who, like Malfoy and his little henchmen. Mercedes is cool, and Willow's not too bad, but I wouldn't call them my best mates any time soon." Georgia sighed.

Just then, a knock was heard at the door. "'Scuse me, Georgia." Hagrid said as he got up and opened the door. Two boys and one girl were standing at the door. One boy had glasses and black hair that swept across his forehead. He was wearing some kind of red and gold robe and holding a broomstick. The other boy had red hair and looked as if he were about to vomit. The girl had bushy brown hair and slightly big front teeth.

"'Arry, Ron, Hermione, come in! Wha's th'r matt'r with you, Ron? Ya don' look so well" Hagrid asked as he let them in.

"He tried to hex Malfoy, but his wand backfired on him, and now he's throwing up slugs" The black-haired boy replied. Hagrid handed him a bucket, and the three preceded to go sit down, but stopped in their tracks when they saw Georgia.

"Who're you?" Red-head asked.

"Georgia Newton. I'm a first-year Slytherin. Too bad your spell rebounded on you. If you'd like, I'd gladly finish the job for you. Malfoy's been bragging all week about getting on the Quidditch team, and I've been looking for a good excuse to hex him"

"Would you?!" the red-headed boy's eyes lit up, but then he suddenly sat down and leaned his head into the bucket. A moment later, she heard him vomit up another slug, and she flinched at the sound.

"Bett'r out than in, eh?" Hagrid said as he put the kettle on once more.

"So, what are you doing down here?" Black-haired boy asked Georgia.

"Hagrid was the one who delivered my Hogwarts letter and took us to Diagon Alley. I've taken a liking to him, although if any of my housemates found out, they'd probably disown me." Georgia smiled. "Who are you guys, anyway?" she asked.

"I'm Harry Potter, that's Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger." Black-haired boy said.

"You're Potter and Weasley? The flying car boys?"

"Yeah, I hate to say it."

"Are you kidding? That was awesome!" Georgia exclaimed.

"Really? You think so?"

"Yeah! Such a dramatic entrance, I do say so myself."

"I honestly can't believe you're a Slytherin. You sure don't seem like one." Harry stated.

"I'm a Muggle-born. Surprised Malfoy hasn't insulted me. At all. Maybe it's because we're housemates. I don't know."

Just then, Georgia noticed Hermione looking out the window rather sadly. Hagrid noticed too, and asked what's wrong.

"Malfoy called me a Mudblood." Hermione sighed with tears in her eyes.

"No! He didn'!" Hagrid exclaimed.

"Yes, he did."

"Don't feel so bad, Hermione. He called me a Mudblood on the Hogwarts Express, before I was Sorted. He's probably jealous about something. I've noticed he gets that way."

"You friends with him?" Ron exclaimed, shocked.

"Acquaintances."

"Oh."

"Yeah..."

After time, Georgia started to feel like she should let these guys talk to Hagrid, so she downed her tea and excused herself. Yelling back her goodbyes, she walked back to the castle and down to her common room.

"Salazar" Georgia said, and the wall opened up for her to enter. She walked in and sat down on one of the sofas. She saw her cat come towards her and sit on her lap. She petted Chaton as Malfoy and the Slytherin Qudditch team walked into the common room, all with smug looks on their faces. Georgia rolled her eyes as they walked by and headed for their dormitories.

With someone like Draco, things are going to be very interesting this year.


	6. Chapter 5

"Good day, students!" Madam Hooch approached the lawn near the Forbidden Forest. When the first-year Slytherins found out that they were to have Flying lessons with the Gryffindors, there was a lot of anticipation and excitement towards the Friday after Georgia met Ron, Harry, and Hermione at Hagrid's Hut.

"Good day, Madam Hooch!" Everyone chorused excitedly.

"Welcome to Broom Flying Class. Here you will learn the basics of broomstick flying. Broomstick flying is a very easy and convenient way of getting around in the Wizarding World, and is what is one of the most popular sports in the Wizarding World, Quidditch. Hopefully, some of you might decide to play for your house's team next year. Enough chatter! come on now, let's get to it! Everyone, step to the side of your broom, stick you right hand out, and say "Up"!"

Everyone complied, and soon, all you could hear was "Up!". Willow's broom flew right up into her hand, Georgia's followed a moment later. Soon, everyone was holding a broom, except Asia Halliway, a Gryffindor girl, and Brandon Hughley, a Slytherin boy that Mercedes was friends with. Once Asia actually spoke clearly and louder, her broom flew right up, and the girl and Brandon just had to pick up their brooms.

"Now, mount your broom, and kick the ground hard to take off when I blow my whistle. On the count of three, now, one, two, three!" Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and everyone flew up, except a Gryffindor boy who was too scared, and Sammie this time, gossiping to a Slytherin boy, who looked extremely uncomfortable. Madam Hooch helped the boy up into the air, and told Sammie off, threatening to put her in detention. Sammie just rolled her eyes and flew up. Georgia could see a smirk on Mercedes's face, which was rare for her to exhibit such evidence of why she was Sorted into Slytherin, and Willow was trying not to laugh.

"Okay, now that we're all in the air, I want everyone to turn to the left, and fly fifteen metres, then turn the other way, and fly back." Madam Hooch explained. Everyone obeyed, and so the lesson continued, with them slowly increasing the length of which they flew, even diving a bit. Georgia was having the time of her life. She quickly got the hang of flying and was one of the best in the class, second to Willow. She loved the feeling of the wind rushing past her face that she wanted to take her hair out of the high pony it was in. She was enjoying herself so much, that she didn't even realize Madam Hooch called them back down onto the ground, until she saw everyone else go down.

"Thank you everyone, good lesson, please leave brooms on the ground, then some sit on the ground next to me." Madam Hooch instructed.

"Okay, students." She began once everybody was sitting on the ground in front of her. "So, many of you caught on surprisingly fast, and some of you still haven't quite got it yet. So, I'll be separating you guys, mainly due to safety, but also because you will work at different paces. I will announce Group A first, which will be the advanced group, and will have their lessons every second Saturday at 2, and Group B will be the less advanced group, and will have their lessons every Sunday at 1. If you are in Group B and catch on and move faster then the rest of the group in the next few lessons, you shall be moved to Group A. Now, I will announce who's in Group A." Madam Hooch finished, and started calling out names.

"Alloton, Jessica. Burren, Fern. Fehily, Dillon." Georgia stared off into space, as Madam Hooch called out names. "Halliway, Asia. Hughley, Brandon. Jackson, Carli. Lillion, Stanley. Newton, Georgia" Georgia looked once she heard her name called. Mercedes was looking rather sad, as Georgia realised she wasn't in Group A with her. As "Summers, Willow" was called, she realised why Mercedes was so sad. She would be stuck in a class with Senseless Sammie, and Georgia and Willow won't be there to keep Sammie at bay, as Mercedes was too shy to do it herself. Georgia gave her a reassuring look as "Weasley, Ginny" was announced as the last Group A flyer. As everyone got up and made their way back to the castle, Georgia decided she would slip off to the Library as Willow comforted Mercedes.

She was halfway there when she noticed Professor Snape headed in her direction. Georgia tried to look for a way past him without having to look into those creepy, lifeless black eyes of his that made her uncomfortable, but it was too late. Snape stopped right next to her, and said the scariest words Georgia had heard since she started:

"Miss Newton, your presence is requested in the Headmaster's Office."

Georgia's heart skipped a beat. What did she do wrong?

"If you would follow me, I'll escort you to the Office." Snape stated, and she followed him down some hallways, to a statue of a Gargoyle. "Ice Mice" Snape said, and the Gargoyle moved to reveal a circular staircase. Georgia followed Snape up it, to a pair of big oak doors.

"Professor Dumbledore will be with you momentarily." Snape told Georgia and proceeded down the stairs. Georgia stood and waited, when she heard voices from the other side of the door.

"This is impossible! Completely ridiculous! A Muggle-Born in Slytherin! Dumbledore, I suggest you may need to get rid of that blasted hat, with it making errors like these!" she heard an obviously not impressed man shouting on the other side.

"Lucius, calm down. I highly doubt the Sorting Hat would make a mistake. If she's in Slytherin, it's because she's meant to be in that house." The calming voice of Dumbledore was heard. Georgia realized they were talking about her, and turned to walk away, but stopped, and instead knocked on the doors.

"Come in, Miss Newton." Dumbledore said, and Georgia pushed open the door. The room was big and filled with paintings of headmasters and mistresses' past. Beside the desk that Dumbledore was sitting behind, was a beautiful bird with red-orange feathers and a graceful stance. Georgia recognized it as a phoenix, due to her seeing it in a book.

"Miss Newton, I'd like you to meet Lucius Malfoy." Dumbledore motioned at a man with a black cloak and long, blonde hair that many girls in Georgia's hometown would be envious of. Georgia awkwardly smiled at the man, and stuck her hand out, but Lucius ignored her.

"I don't have all day, Albus. Put that ridiculous hat on her!"

"Lucius, I think poor Georgia deserves to know what's going on." Dumbledore said coolly. He turned to her.

"Georgia, Lucius is here to verify the house you're in, so we're going to put the Hat on you, and see what it says."

"Okay…" she mumbled, and walked to Dumbledore, who put the Hat on her head, which was sitting on his desk.

Within moments, the hat shouted, "Slytherin!". Dumbledore smiled, and Malfoy muttered something under his breath.

"There, Lucius. You saw it for yourself. There's nothing we can do now." Dumbledore said, and Malfoy just turned around and stormed out of the room, probably swearing a blue streak under his breath. Dumbledore turned to Georgia, said "Thank you for your time, Miss Newton. You are excused." and stroked the phoenix. Georgia turned and left the room and walked down the staircases. It was getting late, and dinner would be in about half an hour, so she headed back to the common room to write about this in her journal.

Her journal was not for school use, although she told everyone it was. It was almost like a diary to her. She would scribble drawings on the pages when she was bored and wrote about anything interesting that happened in her life. Before she got her Hogwarts letter, it was practically blank, except for a few pages here and there. Not worth reading. But now, she's already got it full of good stories, and by the looks of things, it's going to hold many more.

As she headed down to the dungeons, she heard voices coming from an empty classroom. She stopped to listen.

"Father! I'm sorry, I swear I forgot!" the voice of Draco echoed out to the hall, sounding on the verge of tears.

"You forgot?! Draco Lucius Malfoy, you know better than this! I can't believe you wouldn't owl me right away that a filthy Mudblood was put in your house! I heard it from someone at the Ministry instead!" she heard his dad whisper-yell.

"Father, please! Just go back home!" Draco snapped.

Draco had no idea why he didn't tell his father. It was like a force stopped him every time he went to mention it in a letter. He hated it but was kind of glad he didn't tell his family. He disliked Muggle-borns, especially Granger, but not enough to have them kicked out of the school, believe it or not. He guessed Newton was starting to change his opinion already, and they have only spoke a total of 231 words to each other.

Gods, why was he keeping track?

No, he did not have an attraction to her. No, he did not fancy her. He never thought of anything of the sort. So, why was he doing this?

He had no idea.

When his father suddenly sent an owl saying he was coming, he supposed it was to see his son before the first Quidditch game of the year, but when he stormed down the corridor and dragged Draco into an empty classroom, he knew his father found out somehow.

His father never showed any affection or emotion, except the occasional sense of pride when Draco accomplished something, and anger. While most kids had loving, caring fathers that played futball in the backyard and smiled when they were given a homemade card for their birthday, Draco had Lucius. At least his mother commonly showed affection to Draco. His mum and father were complete opposites when it came to him but were pretty much the same in everything else.

Draco was extremely thankful that Newton would never know about him not telling his father, but he was surprised when he locked eyes with her while leaving the classroom. She heard everything.

Draco prepared for her to storm off completely disgusted, for her to never talk to him again after listening to him at his worst, but he was not expecting her to say, "That was the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me." and wrap him in a hug. He definitely didn't see that coming.

And what was to come for them in the future would most certainly not go by well with his father.


	7. Chapter 6

Draco was shocked how fast Georgia took a liking to him after that. She soon sat with him during meals, walked with him to and from the common room, and hung out with him in between classes. She was constantly at his side, and he found himself liking it.

Well, for the first week, anyways.

Soon, Georgia got kind of annoying and clingy to him. His dormmates liked to poke fun at him for it, calling Georgia his little Mudblood girlfriend. Draco usually rolled his eyes at them and told them to shove it.

He also noticed that Parkinson was acting extremely jealous, thinking that Draco actually was attracted to Newton. She often glared at him and he heard once that her and her clique tried to pick on Newton, but Pansy ended up with a broken nose and a tail, Davis was somehow continuously singing, and Bulstode had been found in a broom closet with no hair. You must admit, Newton's one tough cookie.

There's a lot more to Georgia then Draco first thought. First of all, she's completely fearless, ambitious, and determined, and when you see her use those traits, it's no question why she's a Slytherin. One case of her displaying those parts of her personality, was when him, Crabbe, and Goyle were walking around the open grounds on a lovely Saturday afternoon, when he heard a voice.

"Draco! Goyle, Crabbe! Hi! Up here!" He heard a shout from above. He looked up, and sure enough, there was Georgia Newton, perfectly perched near the top of an extremely tall pine tree, wearing some kind of Muggle sweatshirt and jeans.

"What in Merlin are you doing up there?" He yelled at her.

"I like the view. You should really come up here, you know."

"Are you crazy?" He hollered. Honestly, he wouldn't make it up there a foot without chickening out.

"No, that's Looney Lovegood's job. And Senseless Sammie's."

"I really don't think you should be up there!"

"Why do you care?" She sarcastically said in a stubborn, babyish voice, and stuck her tongue out at him.

"What's going on here?" He heard a female voice say. He looked behind him and saw that Daphne Greengrass was standing behind them. Draco liked Daphne, she was pretty and didn't really care to hang out with Pansy, only when she feels bored and Parkinson's group is not doing something boring and stupid.

"Hi Daffy!" Newton yelled down.

"What in the world are you doing up there, Peach?" Daphne shouted up. Georgia had taken a liking to her, as she didn't try to pick on her. Daphne's much nicer than her dormmates and hung out with Georgia and helped with her homework. Although her family has the same viewpoint on Muggle-borns as Draco's, she and Georgia became quick friends.

"The view's nice up here."

"You better come down, before a teacher sees you!" Daphne shouted.

"Okay." Georgia yelled, and to Draco's shock and dismay, she jumped down. He held his breath as she fell before she waved her wand mid-air and landed softly.

"Impressive." Daphne said as Georgia dusted off her shoulders.

"Thanks, Summers taught me that spell." Georgia smiled.

"Come on, let's go back to the common room, and we'll play a game of Wizard Chess." Daphne said, and the two girls walked off, leaving Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle to wonder what just happened.

Second, Georgia's very smart, with good grades that could rival Granger's. She is also constantly reading a book or doing her homework. She's always asking questions and is forever curious. She's all about school first, then everything else.

Third, she is rather talkative. She rambles on about her life, her family, her hometown, etc. But she is also a great listener, as he heard her dormmates say about her. She has a great sense of humor and an adorable smile.

It's a shame Draco damaged what was coming out to be a lovely friendship.

About three weeks since Georgia started hanging out with Draco, she was almost always by his side. It was really annoying him, and one afternoon, he lost it.

"So, I said," Why in the world would you do that?" and he said,"-"

"Will you just shove it?!" Draco yelled at her. The moment the worlds flew out of his mouth, he regretted it, as Georgia's eyes filled with tears and she turned around and sprinted away. What is wrong with you, Malfoy? he thought to himself.

She avoided him over the next few days, not even bothering to say hi. He didn't blame her. He deserved this.

But, for some reason, he found himself missing her. Like she was his best friend who just moved away. Like they've known each other for forever and then suddenly left each other's lives. How could someone you barely know have that affect on you?

Man, his father would kill him if he knew what Draco was thinking.

He felt like Georgia would never speak to him again. But everything changed Hallowe'en night.

He was at dinner in the Great Hall, and pudding was just served. Because it's Hallowe'en, the tables are full of various candies and sweets, Muggle and Wizarding treats alike. Draco was nibbling on a piece of candy corn while Crabbe and Goyle were stuffing their pockets full of candy. He stared off into space, pretending to gawk at the humongous jack-o-lanterns floating in the air. He was pulled back into reality by loud laughing.

He looked over at the source, and saw Newton, eating a candy apple while Freeman was obviously telling her and Summers, who was sucking on a big lollipop, something funny, when Freeman started getting a funny look to her, and looked as if she were about to vomit. Draco had heard that she was very weak to the stomach and got easily nauseous. A minute later, Georgia and Summers, along with Greengrass, who saw the commotion and volunteered to help, were helping her to the nearest bathroom. Draco thought nothing of it, until Greengrass and Summers came bursting back into the hall.

"Headmaster, you should really come and see this." Summers cried. What does Dumbledore have anything to do with Freeman getting sick?

Professor Dumbledore got out of his seat and walked down the hall to the girls, followed by the rest of the staff table. Curious students decided to follow as well, and soon the whole school was behind Summers and Greengrass. Out the hall they went, to a wall. They suddenly stopped, and Draco forced his way to the front of the crowd, so he could get a better look. Everyone wore stocked and scared looks on their faces, and he could soon see why.

On the wall were these words, which appeared to be written in blood: THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE" Seeing this chilled Draco down to the bone. If it weren't for Georgia, he probably would've said something rude to the Muggle-borns about this, but he didn't even think about it.

Then, he saw what appeared to be a cat hanging from a torch bracket. Wait, was that Newton's cat, he thought. Nah, her cat is black, I'm sure.

"Mrs. Norris?" He heard Filch say, with a hint of sadness in his voice. Right, that's Filch's cat.

"Mrs. Norris? She's dead! Somebody killed my cat!" Filch shouted angrily. Draco saw Dumbledore walk up to the cat and touch her.

"She's not dead, Argus. She's Petrified." The calm voice of Dumbledore spoke.

"What do you mean, Petrified?" Filch asked.

By now, Draco had lost all interest in the cat. It's Filch's cat, he doesn't really care if it's Petrified or dead, as long as it isn't trying to watch his every move. He was more concerned about the writing on the wall. What does it mean, the Chamber of Secrets has been opened? Sure, he's heard about the Chamber before, but only bits and pieces; he doesn't know the full story. Maybe he'll have to go to the library to search it up. Merlin, what is happening to him?

He was distracted by a pair of arms wrapped around him. He looked, and saw Georgia smiling that cute smile at him.

"I knew you wouldn't last long without me. I heard Zabini say that you've pretty much gone mental since you yelled at me." She said, smirking at him.

She was right.


	8. Chapter 7

Georgia squeezed herself down the row of seats full of people to an empty seat in between Daphne and Mercedes, who both sat on the Slytherin side of the pitch. It was the first Quidditch match of the year, between rivals Gryffindor and Slytherin, and almost everyone in the school came out to watch, although it was raining. The two girls had taught Georgia all they knew about the game, and now she thinks she's got most of the rules down.

"Hey, Peach. Where were you? The game's about to start." Daphne said.

"Sorry, Peeves kept me. Also, I couldn't find my rain clothes." That was all she needed to say, as they knew Peeves was probably mocking her again.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. Here, have a Licorice Wand. My mum sent me some goodies this morning." Mercedes smiled, handing her a candy.

"Thanks, Sadie."

"So, this is Malfoy's first game, huh?" Mercedes asked.

"Yeah."

"Seeker, correct?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

"Man, this is going to be a good game. Potter, the Gryffindor seeker, is supposed to be really good." Mercedes said.

"He is. I watched him last year. Plus, he must be good if they put him on the team as a first-year." Daphne stated.

"Maybe I'll go on the team next year, or whenever they have an opening. It'll be fun to do." Georgia thought out loud.

"Maybe. The Slytherin team's pretty competitive, though." Daphne told her.

"Speaking of Slytherin Quidditch players, I heard you're now friends with Malfoy, hey, Georgie?" Sadie teased Georgia.

"Well, yeah-"

"How are things with him going?"

"Good. Doing things friend normally do. Nothing out of the ordinary." Georgia said simply. Mercedes looked a bit disappointed.

"Shut up, you two. The game's starting!" Daphne exclaimed. Georgia watched as the players mounted their broomsticks and Madam Hooch blew the whistle to start the game. The balls were thrown up into the air, and a Gryffindor Chaser took the Quaffle, and flew towards the Slytherin end. She breathed a sigh of relief when the Quaffle was saved. Then, a Slytherin Chaser took the ball and a few second later, scored. Soon, in what seemed like a few seconds, they were up 60-nil.

Her eyes changed focus from the action of the game to Draco, sitting idle on his broom, watching for the Golden Snitch. She saw Potter near him, and the two looked like they were exchanging words. A monet later, a bludger went straight for Potter. He narrowly missed it, but it circled back and tried to hit him again. Again, Harry dodged it, but it did the same thing.

"That's not right…" Daphne said.

"That's so weird. Why would it be doing that?" Mercedes questioned.

"I have no idea, honestly. But even though I want us to win, I can't help but think that that's totally unfair." Daphne thought out loud.

Georgia saw that Gryffindor called a timeout, and the team talking on the ground. Georgia could tell they were thinking what everyone else was. They went back to the field and gameplay resumed. Potter and Draco were still looking for the Snitch, and obviously Draco was insulting him or something, because he didn't even notice the Snitch flying by his ear. Georgia saw the light glimmer, took out her wand, pointed it at her throat, and said "Sonorus". With her voice amplified, she started shouting,

"YOU BLOODY STUPID IDIOT! STOP TALKING AND LOOK BEHIND YOU, YOU DUMB GIT!" Draco looked at where the voice came from, blushed from embarrassment, and looked behind him. He saw the Snitch, and immediately reached from it. It brushed his fingers, but he missed. Him and Potter started racing after it as it flew away, the bludger at Harry's tail again. Georgia viewed as they flew through the rain around the pitch, chasing after the little flying ball.

Although Draco and Potter were neck and neck and had equal chances of catching it, Potter managed to catch the Snitch, winning the game for Gryffindor. Georgia had very little time to be disappointed as the bludger crashed right into Potter's arm.

"Ow! That's got to hurt!" Mercedes winced.

"And to make matters worse for Potter, there's Professor Lockhart…" Daphne sighed.

"Now I really feel sorry for him." Georgia said.

Lockhart went up to Potter, grabbed his arm, cast a spell, and suddenly Potter's arm was floppy.

"Oh my… Did Lockhart just take out the all the bones in his arm?" Mercedes gasped.

"I think so…" Georgia said.

"If I were Potter, I wouldn't let that lunatic near me at all." Daphne said.

Georgia got up, followed by her two friends, and walked down to the pitch to see Draco. She walked out of the stands and met him on the lawn.

"Hey, good game." She smiled at him.

"Yeah, sucks that we didn't win." Draco replied.

"Well, winning isn't everything." She told him.

Yeah, I guess you're right. I was just really nervous. My father's here, and you know how he is." Draco said.

"Oh, he better not see you with me. I take it he hasn't accepted that I'm a Slytherin?" Georgia asked.

"Not at all. He's still complaining about it at home, my mother says."

"How lovely. I better get going, so I'll see you tonight." Georgia said and gave him a quick hug and ran to go meet up with her friends, and they walked back to the castle.

"I think I'll pay a visit to Potter in the hospital wing later. I feel really bad for him." Sadie sighed.

"Yeah, me too. Regrowing a bone can't be a bed of roses." Georgia responded.

"What about you, Daffy?" Mercedes asked the older girl.

"No, my dormmates would kill me if I was spotted within 100 feet of a Gryffindor, especially him." Daphne said.

"That really sucks. I know how nasty Parkinson can be." Mercedes said.

"Yeah. I'll see you girls later, wish Potter well for me." Daphne told them as she walked away from them.

"So, should we go pay a visit?" Mercedes asked Georgia.

"Sure." She replied and the two headed to the hospital wing. When they got there, they found Potter surrounded by his friends and the Gryffindor team, looking like he was in extreme pain. They walked to his bed.

"Potter." They greeted him.

"Freeman, Newton." He responded.

"How are you doing?" Mercedes asked.

"I honestly feel like I'm dying." Harry replied.

"That can't be fun. Here, have some candy." Mercedes said, handing him a package of Cauldron Cakes and a Peppermint Toad.

"Thanks."

"No problem. So, how-"Mercedes started to say, but Madam Pomfrey stormed in and started shooing out visitors, telling them that visiting hours are over. The girls waved goodbye to Harry and walked out and headed to the Great Hall for dinner. As they were eating, Willow ran in, said "You have to see this!" and grabbed the two.

"Summers, what's the big idea?" Georgia asked as she lead them down the castle.

"I was curious about the Chamber of Secrets, so I've been meaning to come down to the library to see what I could find, and today I finally got around to it. You won't believe what I found!"

They ran into the library, and Willow puled a book from a shelf.

"It took me forever to find this book, I heard even Hermione Granger couldn't find it, but when I did, it gave me such important information. Look, here, it says this: The Chamber of Secrets is a myth in which Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of the school and founder of Slytherin house, became very selective over his students and their blood purity, that it spouted an major argument between him and the other founders, resulting in him leaving the school. The myth says that before he left the school he built the Chamber of Secrets deep underground. Only the heir of Slytherin himself could open it and unleash the monster that lies within, to get rid of all of those who's blood purity is not worthy."

"Deep." Mercedes said plainly.

"You don't understand, Sade. Whatever is in that Chamber, is out to kill Muggle-borns." Willow exclaimed.

"So that means…"

"Yes, Sadie. Our Georgia's in grave danger."


	9. Chapter 8

"Good morning, Draco." Georgia said as she sat down next to him, her hair up in a high pony and wearing pants instead of a skirt. When she went more casual like that, it meant that she was in a good mood.

"Morning." He said, as the Great Hall suddenly started rapidly filling up. He hoped that he made good time when he got down for breakfast, so he could get some time alone in the quiet-big room, but when he got there, he found that it was already a quarter full.

"Why is it that it seems like everyone wakes up at the same time?" Georgia thought out loud.

"I dunno. Maybe they all have internal clocks that go off at the same time." Draco said.

The two sat in silence for a moment as Georgia nibbled on a muffin and Draco wolfed down his eggs.

"What's the rush?" Georgia asked.

"Flint's mad at us for losing yesterday, so he booked us an early practice today. I must be down there in half an hour. Then, I have to head to class immediately afterwards."

"Aw, poo. You're no fun anymore, you're always doing stupid Quidditch things." Georgia whined.

"Well, you can always hang out with Freeman and Summers, can't you?" Draco questioned.

"No, Mercedes found herself a boy friend and already committed to helping him study, and Willow joined some club, and I don't want her to convince me to join with her." Georgia groaned.

"What club?"

"Some dueling club, or something. I have no interest in it, though."

"Why not? I've signed up."

"Because, I heard that Lockhart's teaching it." Georgia said.

"Just great. Now, I have to deal with Lockhart twice in a week? Georgia, you should've said something sooner!"

"Oops."

Just then, the morning post arrived as owls swooped in and drops parcels and packages from overhead. Georgia noticed Erwin flying towards her with a bunch of newspaper pages tied to his leg. He landed in front of her and held his leg out for her to untie the string holding the papers. She grabbed the and opened it. Inside was a note.

Good day, George.

All is well, thank you for the wizarding treats you sent me the other day. Your friend is very kind to let you send me some of her candies (Don't get too fond of her, though. Remember, I'll always be your best mate.) I really liked the Cauldron Cakes, and the Jelly Slug was the best thing ever. Gran and I really enjoyed them.

Here is this week's collection of funnies I've collected for you, just like last week. Remember to send me that Wizarding paper; Me and Gran spend an hour reading it and talking about it last week.

Also, I absolutely adore that little owl friend of yours! Gran gave me an old cage that used to have her owl in it when she was my age (Gran was a witch, like you, as you know. She just can't do magic anymore, as it's against Wizarding law to do it in front of us non-magic people.) and I kept him in there and gave him treats until I wrote my letter. He's a sweetie! Speaking of animals, how's Chaton?

Thanks again and write back as soon as you can!

-José

P.S: Are you coming home for the Holidays? If so, I can't wait to hear all about Hogwarts!

Georgia smiled. The two have called each other "George" and "José" for as along as they can remember, kind of like their own code names. They've came in handy quite a few times before, but that is a different story.

"Who's that from?" Draco asked.

"My best friend, back at home. She sent me the daily comics from our Muggle newspaper. You can read them, if you like. I'll help you understand them" Georgia said.

"No thanks. I better get going. I'll see you later." Draco told her as he got up and made a beeline to the common room to get his things, she presumed.

"What's up with him?" Georgia turned her head and saw Willow sitting down beside her.

"He's got Quidditch things." Georgia sighed.

"That's too bad. I really want to be on the team next year. I wonder if they'd allow a girl, because there hasn't been for about ten years now. I think I would make an okay Chaser." Willow thought.

"Yeah, I'm not sure I'm cut out for that sort of thing." Georgia said.

"Speaking of things like that- "

"Willow, I'm not doing that dumb Duelling Club with you."

"G, come on! I don't want to do it alone! Please! Mercedes is too uneasy for it, and you two are my only friends."

"What's it all about, anyway?"

"We get together and have fun little practice duels that will help us with self-defence."

"I'm not going if Lockhart's doing it."

"Snape is teaching it as well, I know we're not the biggest fans of him, but we might learn a thing or two from him. He's a really powerful wizard, you know." Willow protested.

"You know what, I'll do it. Just so you'll stop nagging me." Georgia sighed.

"Yay! First meeting is at eight at night on the 17th of December in the Great Hall."

"Can hardly wait." Georgia said sarcastically.

"By the way, did you hear that there's been another attack?" Willow's tone turned serious.

"No. What happened?"

"A boy in our year, but Gryffindor, was Petrified last night. Creevey, that's his name. Colin Creevey."

"Really?"

"Yep. Here's the worst part: He's a Muggle-born."

Georgia and Draco were at the table in the Great Hall, gobbling down dinner in a hurry as Duelling Club was to start in an hour, as Willow tapped her on the shoulder, and pointed at Snape, who was passing around a sheet of parchment.

"G, Snape's collecting signatures of those who plan on staying for the holidays. You decided on what you're doing?" Willow asked.

"I'm going home. Already told my best mate, and I'm not letting her down." Georgia stated.

"Aw, I'm going to be alone. Well, Sadie is staying as well, so I won't be alone. My parents are spending their anniversary in Bermuda and will be gone by the time the vacation hits. You, Draco? What are your plans?"

"I'm going home. No point in staying here. All there's going to be is just a few stupid people I've never met in my life, and Georgia's going to her home, so there." Draco announced.

Snape came up with the parchment, and Willow signed her name, then passed it to Mercedes.

"We better get going; the meeting's in less than an hour." Georgia said as she and Draco got up and walked to the common room.

An hour later, the Great Hall was packed with students, and a long podium in the middle of the room. Lockhart and Snape were on top of said podium, talking about what the club is about. Georgia paid attention as the two bowed to each other; Lockhart deeply bowing, and Snape barely tilting his head. Snape then shouted, "Expelliarmus!" and Lockhart was launched back hard into the wall. Georgia tried her best to stifle a giggle but failed.

As she was laughing, Lockhart announced that they were to be put in pairs and duel each other. Snape paired Draco with Potter and Willow with Georgia. The two girls bowed to each other and Willow cast the Disarming Charm that Snape just used at Georgia, successfully disarming her, as her wand flew out of her hand.

"Nice one." Georgia smiled as she grabbed her wand from the ground.

"Now let's see what you've got." Willow smirked.

"Expelliarmus!" Georgia exclaimed as Willow's wand flew out of her hand and across the room.

"Very impressive, Miss Newton!" She heard Lockhart say, but she was easily distracted by the chaos throughout the room. Hermione Granger and Millicent Bulstrode were rolling on the floor, trying to kill each other, it looked like to Georgia, Seamus Finnigan was ashen-faced as Ron Weasley was trying to apologize for whatever his broken wand must've done, and Draco and Potter were at it on the podium. Despite being close to Georgia, his loathing of Potter hadn't changed.

"Finite Incantatem!" She heard Snape shout, and the room was suddenly back to normal. Georgia was watching as Snape and Lockhart had Potter and Draco back on the podium for a fresh start, as they were to be demonstrating how to block spells. But Draco cast a spell and a black snake flew out of his wand and towards Potter, who was frozen in shock, as what it looked like.

Lockhart cast a spell, Georgia guesses to try and remove it, but it just made the snake float up in the air a few feet. The snake looked angry, as it made its way to a second-year Hufflepuff boy. Georgia suddenly heard some weird kind of hissing sound and looked and saw it coming from Potter.

"Oh my!" Willow squealed.

"What?"

"G, do you know what this means?" Willow asked.

"No, why?"

"Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth, meaning he could talk to snakes. Potter is talking to the snake."

"So?"

"Potter could be the heir of Slytherin!"

"No, Potter, I don't think so. He's best friends with Granger, and she's a Muggle-born." The two girls grabbed their things and left the room as Lockhart dismissed them.

"True, then Potter's off the table, then. So, who could be doing this?"

"I don't know. But I can tell it's going to get worse before it gets better"


	10. Chapter 9

Georgia smiled as she entered the common room, looking for her friends. Today Christmas holidays started, and the Hogwarts Express would be leaving in an hour to take students home.

She found Mercedes and Willow playing a Muggle game that Willow's Muggle-born mother had sent her as an early present, and the two girls found it extremely fun and addictive. Mercedes once tried to find a way to enchant it to make it more fun, but instead almost blew up their dormitories.

"Hello, you two. Are you not going to say goodbye? I'm leaving really soon, you know." Georgia said to the two, dressed in jeans and a Christmas jumper with a snowman on it.

"Not now, G." Willow mumbled, barely looking up.

"Come on, you two. Cut it out. Walk down with me?" Georgia asked.

"Fine. Come on, Willow." Mercedes got up, followed by Willow. Georgia waved her wand and her luggage levitated behind her, following her.

The girls walked out of the common room and up the stairs, through the Great Hall and down the stairs of the Entrance Hall, and down to Hogsmeade Station.

"I'll see you guys after the holidays. Have fun, and don't burn down the place." Georgia smiled as she gave the two a hug each and grabbed her bags, headed for the train.

"We won't. Have a great holiday!" Mercedes shouted back at her.

"Happy Christmas!" Georgia yelled at them as she stepped on the train.

"Same to you!" Willow shouted, and the girls waved goodbye. Georgia picked up her bags and searched for Draco's compartment. Surprisingly, the compartment he was in contained the most unlikely person to be caught in the same room as him: Luna Lovegood.

Draco nodded at Georgia as she sat down and gave her a look that read, "I tried to get her to leave, but she wouldn't budge.", then looking a Luna, who was reading a magazine and twirling her finger around a cork necklace she was wearing.

"Hello Luna. How are you today?" Georgia asked the blonde girl.

Luna looked up from her magazine, which was titled "The Quibbler", and stared at Georgia for a good few moments before speaking.

"Hello there. I remember you, Georgia Newton. It's nice to see you again. I am fine, thanks for asking. Except that Nargles are very prone this time of year, as they always like to hide in the mistletoe. If you two find yourselves under some, keep an eye out for them." Luna said calmly and resumed her reading. Georgia felt her face heating up as Luna said that last sentence.

"Er, thanks." Georgia mumbled.

"You're welcome. I heard that you two are quite good friends. Although I can't remember who you are." Luna stared at Draco.

"I think you would make a very good couple." Luna spoke dreamily after a good few moments. Georgia flushed beet red and was suddenly really interested in her shoes.

"Luna, what are you doing for the holidays?" Georgia blurted out, desperate to change the subject.

"Me and Daddy are going to spend our holiday at home, like always. Then we'll probably go out and look for Dabberblimps at the ocean. We have to be careful, as they can be pretty aggressive." Georgia and Draco exchanged looks of bewilderment.

"Sounds lovely, Luna." Georgia said uneasily. "Draco, what about you? What are you doing?"

"Probably nothing much, except wandering the halls, bored to death. Father probably hasn't gotten over you in Slytherin, so he'll be trying to expel you next. But, knowing Mother, she will try to stop him, and in the end, there will be all that drama for nothing." Draco sighed.

"That's too bad. Are you sure his brain doesn't house a Wrackspurt? They enter through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy and wonky." Luna said.

"Good to know." Georgia said, her head in her hands.

Luna put down her magazine, and continued staring at Draco, her face emotionless. Draco looked extremely uncomfortable.

"I know who you are." Luna finally spoke. "You're Draco Malfoy."

"Good job, you guessed it." Draco slightly sneered.

"I don't really like you. Your dad was a Death Eater. Daddy told me."

"Okay, moving on..." Georgia sighed. Draco looked at her, his face saying, "Please, let's go find another compartment.". Georgia moved her head to his ear and whispered,"It's her or the Halliway sisters. All the other compartments are either full or contain somebody we don't want to be near. Besides, Loony deserves a chance." Draco simply nodded and retreated to his former position.

"So, Luna, where are you from?" Georgia suddenly said.

"I live in Devon, near the village of Ottery St Catchpole. Our house is nice, just me and Daddy."

"Ottery St Catchpole... Isn't that near where the Weasels live?" Draco asked. Luna slowly nodded.

"What happened to your mum?" Georgia asked.

"She died when I was nine. She was experimenting with spells, and one backfired on her. Since then, it's just been me and my father."

"I'm sorry." Georgia said. She now pitied the blonde-haired girl.

"It's okay. I'm fine. Where do you live, Georgia?" She said, her face back to its normal dreamy state.

"In a village about an hour from Southend-on-Sea, in Essex. Ridgeview Green. It's a small, quaint little place, about 2,000 people. We've got a small shopping center, an arcade, a few cafes, a cinema, and a couple pubs. Everyone knows each other by name, so that means I had to tell a little lie. At home, they think I'm attending Oundle, in Northamptonshire. Only my family and my best friend, who has wizard blood but is a Muggle, and her family knows." Georgia said and pulled out a book to start reading.

The train ride was quiet from that point forward. Luna kept reading her magazine, and Draco and Georgia shared treats when the trolley came around. Before they knew it, the train had pulled up to Platform 9/4. Georgia grabbed her things, and got up with Draco.

"Happy Christmas, Luna." Georgia waved back at her as the two left.

"Bye, Georgia and Draco." She said, waving lightly back at them.

The two dragged their luggage off the train, and the two said their goodbyes to one another.

"Merry Christmas, Georgia." Draco said to her.

"Come here, you wimp!" Georgia exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around him. "See you soon!" Georgia yelled back as she lugged her bags to a cart, and dropped them on the cart. She ran through the wall that would take her back to the Muggle world. Her parents said they'd meet her by Platform 10, along with Josie. Georgia smiled wide as she caught sight of her mum, dad, and best friend, grinning wide at the sight of her, and waving rapidly. She was soon engulfed in a rib-breaking hug as blonde hair surrounded her face.

Ah, it was good to be home.


	11. Chapter 10

Georgia pushed her luggage cart through the wall between Platform 9 and 10 at King's Cross once again. The holidays went by extremely fast. It just seems like yesterday it was Christmas.

Her holidays were as normal as they come. Josie and her spent most of the time walking through all of Ridgeview Green, like they owned the streets. Like they used to all the time. They spent afternoons sipping Peppermint Cream Hot Chocolates at The Roasted Bean, their favorite cafe, mornings having snowball fights in Forest Heights Park, the most gorgeous park in town, strolling through Nilla's Fresh Market while running errands for their parents and buying wine gums and Dairy Milks with the remaining cash, and evenings at the bowling alley and arcade. Nights were bounced back and forth between the two girl's homes, one night at Georgia's, the other at Josie's, etcetera.

Christmas was as normal as usual. She went to the drug store to find some Muggle candies and things to send to her friends. She chose some peppermint bark and some candy bars to send to Willow and Sadie, a box of chocolates and some cupcakes she bought at Sweet Sensations, the local bakery, that she thought he would like for Draco, and her and Josie had some fun trying to pick something out for Luna, who sent her a gift a few days before, and eventually settled on a interesting necklace made with random beads and a acorn charm in the center, and a box of tissues. Luna would find them extremely fascinating, Georgia knew that much.

She sent the gifts with Erwin, who came with presents from her friends on Christmas Eve, and slipped hers under the tree. Christmas Day came a few hours later, and Georgia was soon surround by her mum, dad and grandparents opening their gifts to her. The usual, clothes and socks from her mum and dad, but a nice pair of boots her gran got her impressed her more. Josie gave her her grandmother's old wizarding books, as she thinks Georgia would find them useful, and when her parents were occupied with something else, she opened the gifts from her friends:

Mercedes and Willow sent her a box full of wizarding treats: Mercedes' mum must've sent her more candies. Luna sent her a unusual-colored scarf, which Josie pointed out that if paired with the right outfit, might actually look good, and a few copies of The Quibbler, which Josie took as soon as she saw them. And, Draco got her a book on Charms and a package of Cauldron Cakes. She didn't really care about what she got; Christmas was just another day in her mind.

After Christmas Day came and left, she and Josie spent a weekend alone at Southend-on-Sea, taking the bus down and staying with Josie's uncle. After that, it was all skating on the pond (With Josie being her usual self and claiming that she can do a loop-loop jump (Still sounds difficult, but a big step down from years past and her attempting a triple salcow),but still falling on her face), sledding, and horse-drawn sleigh rides. Before the girls knew it, it was New Year's Eve, and they stayed up all night long, playing Monopoly and Super Mario Kart on Josie's brand new SNES she got for Christmas (Josie said that it was cool, but nothing like being able to do magic). After New Years Day, thing went by extremely fast. Now the holidays have ended and Georgia is headed back to Hogwarts. With her new clothes on and her hair in a high ponytail, she went into the New Year as confident she could be.

Back on the train she found herself, now. In a compartment by herself, she was finally able to get the privacy and silence she craved. Munching on snacks and reading her books, she knew Draco would be wondering where she was, but she didn't care. She'd deal with it later.

She felt her eyes getting heavy, the lack of sleep over the break was finally catching on. She closed her eyes and leaned up against the window as she started to doze off.

She was woke up suddenly a few hours later by the sound of her compartment door opening. Standing in the doorway, of course, was Draco.

"Where have you been?" He asked her.

"In here, sleeping... Thanks for waking me up." Georgia groaned. Draco smirked.

"Well you can thank me later. You might've missed getting off, and they'd take you back home. I don't think I'd miss you much, to be honest." He sneered as he sat down and helped himself to a Chocolate Frog.

"Git." Georgia said sleepily and chucked an empty box of Every-Flavor Beans at him.

"Ow! That wasn't very nice!" Draco mocked sarcastically.

"You deserved it." Georgia stuck her tongue out at him.

"Now, if I cared, I would ask you how your holidays were, but you know me." he smirked. "Also I ate all your cakes in a day, and I don't regret it one bit."

"Yeah, the local bakery is super good. I miss the sweets there sometimes." Georgia sighed. Draco helped himself now to a pack of Fizzing Whizzbees. "Also, thanks for the book."

"It's no problem. Besides, it's your best subject, and maybe with that, you could impress Filtwick and earn us some house points."

"And there's the part in it about you." Georgia groaned.

"Of course. Why would I give it to you if I thought you would enjoy it and it not have any way of somehow benefiting me? You know me better than that!" Draco exclaimed.

"You are the world's biggest prat. And the saddest part about it all is that you know it."

"You bet. And that's why you like me so much."

"And an even sadder fact is that I must agree with you, Malfoy."

"Train's slowing down." Draco said suddenly.

"We're almost there? Good. I can't stand much more of you." Georgia smirked.

The two gathered up their things and hopped off the train the moment it stopped. Draco led her into a carriage without a horse or anything hooked up to it and they sat down inside.

"I've never been in this before." Georgia stated.

"How'd you get down to the station, then?" Draco asked her.

"We walked. It was long, but nice." she sighed.

"This should get us up to the castle in about five to ten minutes." Draco said, as the carriage started moving. Georgia didn't question how it was being pulled, she's used to those sorts of things.

"Good. I can't wait to head to my dorm for a rest. That is, if I can keep Summers and Freeman away. They will bombard me with a million questions." she said as she laid down on the row of seats.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked, looking down at Georgia.

"Just tired. The strain of the holidays is hitting me." she groaned. She stayed like this until the carriage stopped and Draco was picking up his things. Georgia got up and grabbed her own luggage, and the two left for the castle together. Along the way, they received looks from gawking second-years and Georgia saw Sammie Haliway giggling and pointing at them alongside her Ravenclaw girlfriend and Parkinson shouted, "Draco?! You're not seriously hanging out with the Mudblood again? You really need to show Newton where she belongs.", although Georgia could sense slight fear in her voice. "Obviously not wanting me to hex her again", she thought.

"Just don't do anything, Newton. We really don't need points taken away from us if you attack her again." Draco whispered to her.

"You are such a selfish git." Georgia rolled her eyes at him.


	12. Chapter 11

"I cannot believe this."

Draco and Georgia were standing at the entrance to the Great Hall for breakfast on February 14th, shocked at sight in front of them. The hall was covered in pink and red heart-shaped confetti falling from the ceiling, the tables were filled with more large, girly flowers than food, and sitting at the staff table, was Gilderoy Freaking Lockhart, dressed in lurid pink robes.

"I think I might throw up." Georgia said.

"Of course, only Lockhart would be stupid enough to think of this." Draco sighed.

"Just so you know, I'm going to send you a really embarrassing valentine with one of those dumb cupid messenger dwarfs that are humiliating poor Sadie over there later today." Georgia said blankly.

"Thanks for the warning." Draco replied.

"You know what, I'm not that hungry" Georgia stated.

"Me neither."

_page_break_

"Thanks for the valentine you sent me in the middle of class." Draco groaned. Classes were long over and the two were sitting in the common room, Chaton cuddling up to Draco.

"You're very welcome. I loved the one you sent in return during my Potions test. It was rather lovely. Professor Snape did not think so, though." Georgia smiled.

"I can remember the one you sent me word for word: Your eyes are as grey as steel, your ego is astonishingly big, you can make the smallest things a big deal, with love from the Peachy Fig. Peachy Fig, really?"

"Peach because the state of Georgia is called the Peach State, and Fig for Fig New-"

"I get it." Draco sighed. Georgia smirked.

"So, anything else happen today?" Georgia asked.

"Not really, the first floor girl's bathroom flooded today. By the time I got to Charms, my shoes were sopping."

"Oh, Moaning Myrtle again... I sometimes go into her bathroom when she's off crying in the sewers and study, its kinda nice and very peaceful, then clumsy old me bumps into something and she hears me, then she comes up and starts whining and crying to me."

"I heard it was because someone threw a book at her, so when I saw Potter with a book I've never seen before, I went for it."

"Did you get it?"

"Hell no. I was stunned by Potter, but luckily for me, the prefect Weasley caught him." Draco snorted.

"You know, I think I know why Lockhart did all this today..." Georgia said.

"Why?"

"It's been almost two months since Finch-Fletchley and the Gryffindor ghost were Petrified. I bet he thinks he stopped the attacks." Georgia told him.

"I think you're right." Draco responded.

"I'm not assured that another attack won't happen, to be honest."

"Me as well" Draco agreed.

"You know what, let's not sit around and worry! It's not dark out yet and it's still well below freezing, let's go skating on the lake! Josie says that it's going to warm up next week, so it's now or never!" Georgia declared.

"But I don't-" Draco started to protest.

"Come on!" Georgia got up and grabbed his arm. "Don't be a coward! I'll help you, and I think Zabini has skates, as he and Summers went out together last week. They're kind of friends now, you know, but Willow doesn't like to admit it. Blaise is super big on blood purity, that he would go near her until she told him that her maternal grandfather was Muggle-born. Anyway, I'd say you two have the same foot size, so it should be fine." Georgia insisted "Now, go over and ask Zabini nicely for his skates, and I will meet you at the lake in 15 minutes. Be there, or, mark my words, I'll hex you into oblivion."

-page_break_

Georgia sat on a wall near the frozen lake, skates on and tied, watching the remaining people on the ice. She looked into the distance and thought that they would have 45 minutes, if they were lucky. That is, if Draco ever shows up. Georgia sighed and tried to stop tears from coming into her eyes. She heard something in the distance and looked up. Draco was lugging through the snow, a pair of skates around his shoulder.

"You came." Georgia beamed at him.

"Of course I did." he smirked and sat down on the wall next to her.

"Give me your skates, I'll get them on for you." Georgia stated, as he handed them to her. She shoved one on his foot and began to tie it up.

"It's fine, I can take it from here." Draco muttered and took over. Georgia watched as the students on the ice cleared up until there was only about 5 left. Draco finished his skates and hopped off the wall with Georgia.

"Grab my arm, I'll help you." Georgia smiled as the two slowly stepped on the ice.

"Woah!" Draco exclaimed as he stumbled.

"Easy, now, You'll get the hang of it."

"How do people find this fun?!" Draco yelped, his face written with fear.

"Once you've been on the ice a while, you'll see. Now, let's take it easy. Just take baby steps." Georgia instructed. Draco slowly picked up one foot and put it down a few inches ahead, then picked up the other and did the same, all the while holding tightly onto Georgia.

"Hey, look! I'm doing it!" Draco grinned at her.

"Good job. Now we'll head down to that end, and on the way back, I can't hold onto you." Georgia said.

"Really?"

"Yep. Now, slow and steady. There! Good job! Now, let's go a little faster. I'll still hold onto you, except I'll speed up a tiny bit, and I want you to push with your blade. Okay?" Georgia sped up as they crossed the lake. Draco was a fast learner, and soon the two were skating around together, Draco on his own.

"You know what, this is much more fun than I thought." Draco told Georgia as they skated around the edges of the makeshift rink.

"I told you." Georgia teased as she blew a raspberry.

"Can I tell you something?" Georgia suddenly announced. Draco nodded.

"At the beginning of the year, I heard about how Slytherin was a house full of bad guys and dark wizards, and how you are a complete jerk that is destined to be a Death Eater, and although the former is true about you, I never believed any of it. Sure, I didn't think we would be friends, but I thought maybe you weren't as bad as you seem." Georgia confessed.

"Wow, Georgia, that means a lot. I never could see myself becoming friends with a Mud- sorry, I'm still so used to saying it, Muggle-born, but, i don't know what it is about you, but you are by far the most interesting person I know, and yet one would think your stories are boring. I know my father would be completely livid if he found out about us, but, I can't believe I'm saying this, but already you've had a great impact on my life." Draco responded.

"Thanks. I have that affect on people." Georgia said plainly.

"It's getting dark." Draco reported.

"We better head in and grab a bite to eat." Georgia replied.

"Thank you for insisting we do this. I enjoyed myself. And, just so you know, tomorrow, we pretend that heart-to-heart didn't happen, and we go back to normal."

"Of course. I'm headed in. Happy Valentine's Day, Draco." Georgia smiled and did something she would never think of doing in different circumstances: she lean over and kissed him on the cheek.


	13. Chapter 12

"I hate my life. Seriously, 2 feet of parchment? And due on Friday? Snape must be in a real bad mood." Mercedes groaned. Her, Georgia, and Luna were in the library, doing their homework. Willow had already completed hers earlier, and when the two went down to do theirs, they ran into Luna, and before they knew it, she was doing hers with them.

"I know. I guess it's because Easter this weekend, so it looks he's decided to throw a bunch on us before we started to think he was going to go easy on us." Georgia thought. "Hey, Luna, what's your third argument in "The Differences Between Hexes and Jinxes" essay? I can't think of one, and Mercedes stole hers from me and Willow."

"I put the fact that Hexes are darker than Jinxes, but not as dark as a curse." Luna said dreamily, brushing her waist-length hair behind the ear that didn't store her wand.

"Luna, that was the first thing we all put." Georgia sighed. "I guess I'll ask Dillon Fehlily. He's been pretty cool to me."

"Flipendo" Georgia heard Luna say, and a bottle of ink was knocked of the table and onto the floor, where it landed with a shatter.

"Scourify" Georgia waved her wand at the broken glass and ink, and it disappeared without a trace.

"Practicing, Luna? That jinx is tricky, and Lockhart wants us to do it, although, remember when he demonstrated?" Georgia giggled.

"How could I forget?" Sadie smiled. "So, that spell you just did... That has to be about forth-year level! How'd you do it?"

"I read about it before I came to Hogwarts and I've been practicing. It makes cleaning things so much easier." Georgia told them.

"Speaking before you came to Hogwarts, your birthday's in two days! What are you going to do for it?" Mercedes nagged.

"I don't know. I'm the youngest out of all you: Luna's birthday was before Valentine's Day, yours was last month, and Willow's was in January. It's not a big deal."

"Sure it is! You guys stole cakes and pastries from the kitchens for me! Tell me anything, anything you want for your birthday, and I'll make it happen." Mercedes leaned against Georgia's shoulder and smiled at her.

"Well, you could do all my homework for me..." Georgia started.

"No way! I've already got enough on my plate! Anything else other than that!"

"I kind of want to do something for the Easter holidays, but it's so pretty here. How about you just give me a break and leave me alone for the day?"

"Not happening, Newton. Think of something reasonable!"

"But a day of relaxation is reasonable!"

"Remember, we still have classes. How about we go into the kitchens, and smuggle out some food, and make you a surprise birthday dinner with your favorite foods? Kinda like what you did for me. I won't tell anyone you know, and neither will Luna. I'll make sure she doesn't." Sadie suggested.

"That sounds nice, actually." Georgia admitted.

"Then its settled. One-" Sadie started, but was cut off by Pansy Parkinson, as she was passing by with her group.

"Well, well. Look what it is. Mudblood Newton and the weirdo squad." she sneered.

"You wouldn't dare call her that!" Mercedes got up from her chair abruptly and turned threateningly towards Pansy.

"Oh, is the filthy little half-blood mad?" she mocked and the girls behind her giggled. "Surely you'd have better taste than hanging out with this thing and the freakish blood traitor."

"Parkinson, I'm warning you!" Mercedes looked about ready to swing, so Georgia interjected.

"Parkinson, you expect us to worship the ground you walk on, to treat you like you're superior to us, for us to be afraid of you. But, I honestly don't care. We're different, and we'll stay that way. We'll flaunt it, per say. We'll break the rule and make our own to prove a point. Now, go scatter off, before i inform you that I recently learnt a new curse that will sprout antlers out of your head." Georgia declared. Mercedes smiled.

"Fine! But remember, this isn't over! Draco was supposed to be mine." She retorted as she and her clique walked away.

"That was awesome, Georgie!" Sadie beamed.

"Thanks. We aren't anything like them anyways. We're wild things, one might say." Georgia responded.

"You are so awesome. Hey, look over there!" Mercedes suddenly said, and pointed towards the corner. There, sitting against the wall, reading a book, was Asia Halliway.

"So? What's the big deal? Although, i do wonder what she's doing there." Georgia wondered

"Probably plotting how she's going to blow up the place or reading a book on Dark magic." Mercedes suggested.

"You know, you wouldn't much care for it if she said things like that to you." Georgia implied.

"But it's true. She has "Future Dark Witch" written all over her." Mercedes pointed out. Georgia sighed, and dated her complete essay. She then put her books in her bag and got up.

"I'll see you girls later; I'm headed for a bath." she announced.

"See you tonight." Sadie nodded, still in the middle of her Potions essay. "I'll probably see you by the time you're asleep at this rate, so good night."

"Good night." Luna nodded and continued her Herbology reading.

_Page_break_

"Morning, Draco." Georgia said as she joined him in the common room. "Headed down for breakfast?"

"Yep. Happy Birthday, by the way." Draco said.

"You actually remembered? I refuse to believe it!" Georgia exclaimed sarcastically.

"Believe it. I didn't get you anything except some Drooble's, because that's all I have left from my Christmas package from my mother." he confessed, handing her a bag of sweets.

"It's the thought that counts." Georgia said as the two walked up the staircase from the dungeons to the Great Hall.

"Looks like we got lucky: nobody's barely here. That means extra food. Lovely; I'm famished." Draco smiled as they sat down. Georgia poured herself a bowl of Cheeri-Owls and a glass of apple juice as she listened to the sounds of clanging silverware against plates and giggles and whispers as the hall filled up.

"Newton. This is our spot. Out." She heard from behind. Of course it was Parkinson.

"Fine. Come on, Draco. We'll be fine all by ourselves." Georgia got up and dragged him with her, to the Ravenclaw table.

"What in the bloody hell are we doing here?" Draco hissed at her.

"It's time for us to spend some time with Loony. She deserves it." Georgia reassured him as they sat down next to Luna, earning quizzical and shocked looks from all around.

"Hi Georgia, Draco, I was afraid you'd never come and sit with me again. It looked like I offended you back in the train. I'm sorry." Luna spoke.

"It's fine. I've forgo- Thanks for apologizing, Luna, I forgive you" Draco started, but changed mid-sentence due to Georgia elbowing him in the ribs.

"You know, I admire you guys for coming over here. Thank you guys for keeping me company." Luna smiled. She had actually been sincere without mentioning something non-exisitant or plain silly, Georgia thought, and grinned back at the girl.

"Thank you guys for being my friends. Nobody likes me because they think I'm insane. You are beautiful people. Oh, and Happy Birthday, Georgia. I made you this." Luna said and pulled a necklace she was wearing over her head. Georgia looked at it as she gave it to her. It was made out of random buttons, beads, and shells, and in the center, was a charm that said, "Best Friends" Georgia wouldn't go that far, but was still touched at the gift.

"Thank you, Luna. It's lovely." Georgia grinned. She was happy to know that she not only has one, but two real friends at Hogwarts.

And they are all wild things.


	14. Chapter 13

"Checkmate." Georgia said.

"Damn. Another win for you." Mercedes groaned. Georgia smirked as she said "Queen to D7". Her queen slid to that spot, pulled out the chair it was sitting on, and swung it at Mercedes' king, smashing it into shambles.

"Reparo." Mercedes waved her wand, and the chess pieces returned to their normal state.

"I must admit, this version of chess is way better than Muggle chess." Georgia smiled as Sadie put her chess set back in it's box.

"You going to watch the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match this afternoon?" Mercedes asked.

"Wasn't planning on it. Why?"

"Just wondering what your plans were."

"Really. What do you really want from me?" Georgia scoffed.

"Well, I was wondering-"

"Whatever it is, go talk to Summers. She's your best friend, not me."

"But you're still my friend!" Sadie pointed out.

"Well, I guess you're right. What is it?"

"Well, as I was saying, I thought maybe we could head down and cheer against Gryffindor. What do you say?" Mercedes asked.

"Sade, I'm not that kind of person. You may be, but not me." Georgia said.

"Georgie, you're a Slytherin! It's in your blood!"

"I'm not even sure that I should've been in Slytherin some days. You know?" Georgia questioned.

"Nope. My mum was Slytherin, my Grandfather was, it runs in the family. Although my Muggle-born father was a Ravenclaw." Mercedes shrugged.

"Oh... Well, I guess we could go do-" Georgia started, but was cut off.

"You're the best! Come on, let's go! The match is going to start soon." Mercedes dragged Georgia out of the common room and out to the stairs leading out of the dungeons, when a group of Slytherin forth-years passed them.

"It's no use going up to see the match. It was just cancelled." One boy told them.

"Why? What happened?" Georgia asked, as Mercedes tensed up and became speechless at the sight of them.

"There's been another attack." No four words before have chilled Georgia up to the bone like those ones did.

"Wha- Who was attacked?"

"A Ravenclaw prefect and that Granger girl." A girl in the group said.

Not Hermione Granger. It can't be. She's the smartest witch in the school, there's no way, Georgia thought. The girls exchanged looks and bolted up the stairs, headed to find Summers and Draco. If Granger was Petrified, Georgia isn't too far behind. They both knew that.

_page_break_

"I'm dead tired. Thank Merlin the school year's almost over." Willow sighed. It was the morning of May 29th, and the girls were in the Great Hall, eating breakfast.

"Me too. I can't wait for next year, though. Hopefully we should enjoy it more, because if we're lucky, Lockhart will be sacked." Mercedes smirked.

Georgia smiled back, finished her bowl of porridge and, got up, looking forward to having a nice Saturday all to herself.

"I'll see you girls later; I have some homework to do" She lied. The truth was, she finished all this week's homework the night before so she could have an excuse to get away from the noise of the castle and write some letters to her family and Josie.

"See you, Georgie" Mercedes waved and began gossiping with her best mate.

Georgia swayed out of the hall and down the second floor corridor. She planned on seeing if Moaning Myrtle was off crying in the sewers again and maybe do some reading in a cubicle. It was private, and she had no risk of being interrupted, minus Myrtle. She was walking in that direction when she noticed a girl with flaming red hair walk into Myrtle's bathroom.

"What's Weasley doing headed in there? Nobody ever wants to go in there." Georgia muttered to herself. She pushed open the lavatory door and saw Weasley speaking some kind of hissing at the sinks, holding a black notebook that Georgia thought she saw somewhere.

"Weasley?" Georgia asked. Ginny turned around, and Georgia got to have a good look at her. She looked as if she had not showered in a week, her skin was as white was a ghost, and her eyes were cloudy and bloodshot, with a light hue of red glow. She opened her mouth and spoke in a voice that was most certainly not hers:

"Well, well. Look what we have here. We were hoping you'd show up, Mudblood." she spoke.

"Weasley, what's going on?" Georgia stuttered. Weasley smirked and reached towards Georgia. She ceased her arms and she muttered a spell. Georgia started fighting, but was stuck in place. She could not move her arms or legs. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. She was frozen in place.

Ginny moved back to the sinks and spoke in what Georgia recognized as Parseltounge. Suddenly, one sink started glowing and moved itself down to the floor, revealing a huge pipe a person could fit into.

Ginny walked over to Georgia, who was completely immobilized. She grabbed her by the arm and waved her wand, enabling her to move her legs. Georgia started kicking and trying to free herself with her legs, but Weasley had a steel grip on her.

"Come with me. We are to go into the Chamber. If you try to escape, I will kill you." Ginny spoke again in the cold, evil, male voice. She pulled Georgia to the pipe, let her go, and pushed her feet first down the hole. Georgia felt herself start sliding. Her speed picked up and she slid down the passage at an incredibly fast speed. She tried her might to scream for help, but it was no use. She stopped sliding and hit a cold stone surface. Ginny fell right behind her on her feet like a graceful cat. She got up and ceased Georgia again, and they walked through a stone corridor. They walked past what looked like a giant snake skin. Georgia shuddered internally as she saw it.

They soon arrived at a wall with two snakes intertwined together with glowing emeralds for eyes engraved on it. Ginny hissed to the snakes, and they started moving and revealed another door. Weasley dragged Georgia through the door. Georgia stood in awe at what she saw. Stone pillars with stone snakes traveling up them held up the ceiling all the way down a corridor, which led to a great statue of a man Georgia believed to be Salazar Slytherin himself. The floor was wet, the room glowed sightly green, and the room was bone-chilling cold.

"Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets." Weasley proclaimed in the male voice. She grabbed Georgia and led her down to the area by the statue. Weasley stopped, and fell to the ground, dropping the book she was carrying. Her eyes were back to normal, and she was panting heavily. Her eyes widened at the sight of Georgia, and she had a good look at her surroundings, before speaking.

"Newton! I'm so sorry! It was that book, and Ridd-" Ginny started, but she stopped in total shock. Georgia couldn't see what was making her afraid, but then she heard the voice that Ginny spoke when she was possessed.

"Good job, Ginny. You have helped me greatly. I am extremely pleased that you brought the Mudblood that has polluted the great and powerful house of Salazar Slytherin." The voice spoke. Suddenly, Georgia was released from the curse that was preventing her from moving, and she fell to the ground, extremely weak.

"Two human beings to feed off of will make the return of Lord Voldemort happen sooner and make him much more powerful." The voice spoke again. Georgia looked in the direction it was coming from, and saw a surprisingly attractive boy, probably sixteen, in Slytherin robes and wearing a prefect badge.

"Wait.. You... Vol- er- You-Know..." Georgia stuttered weakly.

"Yes, Mudblood. I am Lord Voldemort. I couldn't stand keeping my Muggle scum of a father's name, so I created my new name, from the letters of my old name, Tom Marvolo Riddle." The boy said. Georgia looked over, and saw Ginny looking as shocked as her.

"But.. but how are y-?"

"But how am I here, you ask? I am a memory, preserved in a diary for 50 years, the last time the Chamber was opened. This diary, in fact." He said, picking up the book that laid beside Ginny.

"That.. that-" Georgia gasped out, getting mysteriously more powerless and frail by the minute.

"You are much smarter than I thought, Miss Newton. See, Ginny here told me all about you through this diary, the diary I used to control her, to make her write on the walls, to open the Chamber. I cannot believe that a filthy, dirty Mudblood like you would be sorted into the house that my ancestor built up to be free of things like you. " Tom furiously spat.

"You- You are.. Slytherin.. desenda..."

"Indeed. It was I who opened the Chamber 50 years ago. I preserved my memory in this diary so when it falls into the right hands, I can use it to control that person into opening the Chamber once again. Yes, it was Ginny Weasley here who opened the Chamber of Secrets." Tom declared.

"And now, Newton, Weasley, it is time for you to finish helping the Dark Lord. And, for us to make Slytherin house pure once again." Tom laughed. Georgia could barely keep her eyes open, she barely could even breathe. She felt like she was slowly dying. She heard Tom walking closer to her, and searching her robes, presumably for her wand. Luckily, she forgot her wand on her bedside table.

As he reached up to touch her head, everything faded to black.

"In a few moments, Georgia Newton will be dead."


	15. Chapter 14

At the same exact time, Draco Malfoy entered the Slytherin common room in a rush.

"Hey there, pretty boy. What's up?" He heard a girl ask from near the fireplace. He looked, and saw Mercedes Freeman and Willow Summers, two first-year girls who were dormmates and friends with Georgia, busy playing Wizard's Chess.

"Freeman, Summers, have you two seen Newton at all? Normally she'd slip away for hours at a time and I really don't think much of it, but she missed lunch today. That is the most un-Newton thing I could think of." Draco asked hurriedly.

"Nope. Haven't seen her since breakfast." Willow waved him off and the two resumed their game. Draco turned on his heel and walked out of the common room. He asked everyone Georgia knew: Luna, some of her classmates, even the Haliways (long story short, bad idea). Nobody had a clue where she was. It was almost dinner time, and Draco was getting worried. He decided to have one last look in the library: sometimes she'll slip in there for hours at a time for solitude.

He jogged up the stairs and made a turn in the direction of the library, when he heard commotion from behind in. He turned around and saw teachers gathered by the spot where months ago, Mrs. Norris was found Petrified. He decided to have a look at what the fuss was all about. When he got to the wall, he peeked past the crowd of teachers and saw that a new message had been left on the wall. The words "THEIR SKELETONS WILL LIE IN THE CHAMBER FOREVER" were printed in blood right below "THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE" message from Hallowe'en night.

"What happened here?" Draco heard Lockhart ask Professor McGonagall.

"Two students were taken into the Chamber. It's unlikely we will be able to get them out in time. Unless, of course, you could possibly do it, Gilderoy? With all your past achievements under your belt, this should be no problem at all, hm?" McGonagall said, looking at Lockhart, her brow furrowed.

"Well, uh-ye-of course, Professor! I should get them out in no time at all. I'll-yes -er... Let me go get ready..." Lockhart stuttered, and slowly slipped out of the hall.

"Who were the students?" Flitwick asked McGonagall. She took a deep breath, and turned around to face the half-goblin professor, still not noticing Draco standing nearby.

"Ginny Weasley and Georgia Newton." Draco froze in place. Not Georgia, anyone but her.

"NO!" He heard some whisper-shout not too far any from him. The Weasel and Potter were standing not too far away, listening to every word that was said. As the staff surrounding the wall started to leave, Draco found the ability to finally move, and internally shuddered at what he was about to do. He walked over to Weasley and Potter, who were standing as shocked as he was, took a deep breath, and spoke to his two greatest enemies.

"Potter, Weasley." He said quickly, nodding his head at them. "I get it that it's your sister in the Chamber, Weasley, but my best mate is in there as well." Weasley's eyes widened in shock at those words.

"Never in my life would I think a Malfoy would call a Muggle-born his best friend. I'm surprised that you don't feel the need to bathe every time you get within five feet of her." Weasley sniggered.

"Shove it, Weasel. As I was saying, and I really want to kill myself for saying this, but, to get the girls back we're...Uh..We're going to ha- Merlin, I can't do it!" Draco exclaimed.

"Oh my word, was Draco Malfoy going to say what I think?" Potter exclaimed.

"Perhaps..." Draco mumbled."But this changes nothing about us. I'll still hate the both of you. I'm doing this for Newton."

"Well, I guess we had better get going. Follow me." Potter declared and lead them down the hall to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"Malfoy, take this and read it. This is the monster we believe is in the Chamber. Looking at it indirectly causes Petrification. We'll get Lockhart." Potter said, shoving a piece of paper in his hand and heading in the classroom with Weasley. Draco unfolded the paper and read.

"Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it." He read to himself. He looked at the page and saw the word "pipes" wrote on the corner. The pieces came together. This Basilisk was traveling though the pipes and attempting to kill. The victims were looking at it indirectly, resulting in Petrification. Creevey was looking at it through his camera, Granger and Clearwater were looking through a handheld mirror, the cat was probably looking through a puddle or something, the ghost couldn't die again, and Finch-Fletchey must've saw it through the ghost. "I just hope Newton's okay." He said to himself.

A few moments later, Potter and Weasley burst out of the classroom with Lockhart in front at wandpoint.

"What is this?" Draco asked Weasley as he followed the three.

"Lockhart's the big fraud we all thought him out to be. He tried to escape on us, but we caught him in the act and he confessed."

"Of course."

"Been stealing other wizard's stories, then putting Memory Charms on them. That's where he got everything in his books." Weasley sighed as they walked up the stairs.

"Honestly, that's no surprise." Draco said as they entered the second-floor girl's bathroom. "What are we doing here?"

"No idea." Weasley said.

"Great..." Draco said as he saw Moaning Myrtle float up out of her cubicle, sobbing as usual. She stopped crying the moment she saw Potter and started giggling and smiling.

"Hello Harry. What brings you to my bathroom this evening?" The ghost batted her eyes flirtatiously.

"Myrtle, we came to ask you," Potter paused slightly. "How you...you died"

"Ooooh, it was dreadful, it happened right in here. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny, a different language, I think it must've been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then... I died" Myrtle said grimly. Draco exchanged looks with Potter and Weasley. They didn't need to think twice. Myrtle was the Muggle-born killed the last time the Chamber was opened.

"So, how do we...?" Draco started, but Potter moved toward the sinks, and felt the tap.

"Come look at this." Potter said. Draco walked towards the sinks while Weasley kept Lockhart at wandpoint. He looked at where Potter hand was and saw a small snake engraved on the faucet.

"This is it." Potter declared. "How do I open it, though?" Potter wondered.

"Harry, try saying something in Parseltounge!" Weasley exclaimed. Potter opened his mouth and spoke to the sink in the same hissing voice Draco last heard months ago at the first and last Dueling Club meeting he attended.

The sink started glowing slightly and moved down into the ground, revealing a huge pipe.

"Well, I best be going now..." Lockhart said quickly, slowly stepping back.

"You first." Draco found himself saying those words at the same time as Weasley.

"Fine...but"

"GO!" Draco shouted, taking his wand out. Lockhart sat at the opening of the pipe and hesitantly pushed himself down.

"You next, Malfoy." Potter said, him and Weasley turning on him. Draco put his wand back, walked up and slid down the pipe. It was a really fast journey down the pipe, and he was relieved when he fell down onto a cold-stone floor. He pushed himself up and got out of the way as he heard the girlish screams of Weasley, signaling that they were coming down the pipe. The two fell on top of each other mere seconds later. They got up after each other and had a good look around.

"We must be close. This way, everyone." Potter said as they started walking past a giant snake skin.

"Whatever shed this must be at least twenty feet long!" Weasley exclaimed.

"Quit stating the obvious, Weasley, or else I'll feed you to whatever shed that." Draco snapped.

Lockhart, at the sight of this skin, grabbed Weasley's wand out of his hand suddenly and pointed it at the three.

"The journey ends here, boys." Lockhart stated.

"Give that back!" Weasley shouted.

"I don't think so. When I'm done with you, the world will learn about how it was too late to save the girls and you three tragically lost your minds at the sight of their mangled bodies. Obliviate!" He shouted, but Weasley's wand, which was broken since the Whomping Willow incident, blew the curse on him, cause Lockhart to be blasted back into the stone wall. The ceiling started rumbling and rocks fell down, dividing Harry on one side and Draco with Weasley and the unconscious Lockhart.

Lockhart started stirring from behind them. Draco and Weasley turned around to face the teacher.

"Hello there. This is a very nice place you got here. Do you live here?" Lockhart asked.

"No..." Weasley said.

"Who are you?" Lockhart questioned.

"Ron Weasley, he's Draco Malfoy." Weasley answered.

"Nice to meet you, and, uh, who am I?" Lockhart asked. Draco facepalmed.

"Harry, Lockhart's lost his mind!" Weasley shouted.

"Just great. Listen, I'll go rescue the girls, you two stay here and try to clear those rocks!" Potter shouted and started walking off.

"How are we supposed to do this? My sister's in there, I'm worried to death right now." Weasley said.

"I can blast us out of here, if only I can find my wand... It must've fell out of my pocket on the way down..." Draco said as he started rapidly searching the ground.

"I'll start moving rocks, let me know when you found it." Weasley told him as Draco started moving rocks around.

_Page_break_

About fifteen minutes of searching, Draco finally found his wand jammed behind a rock near the Basilisk skin.

"Watch out." Draco said. "Expulso" The rocks blew up, clearing up the path.

"Let's go." Draco exclaimed.

"What about Lockhart?" Weasley asked.

"He'll be fine. Come on." Draco said as the two walked down the corridor, coming to an open doorway, showing the inside of the Chamber of Secrets. The two boys walked through and saw Potter on top of a giant statue, battling what Draco assumed was the Basilisk. He looked down at the feet of the statue and saw two bodies lying on the ground, still as the statue above them. The basilisk fell to the ground, dead. Potter came down, holding a sword. After overcoming the shock of the dead serpent, Draco ran to Georgia's motionless body.

"Georgia, please be okay, please be okay." He said as he felt her skin. Cold as steel.

He wasn't paying attention around him, but the he heard sounds of agony, and Georgia awoke with a start. Their eyes locked, and Georgia smiled, breathing heavily.


	16. Chapter 15

"So, that is how I learned not to trust your best friend's 15-year-old second cousin, no matter how good he says he's at driving a speedboat." Georgia finished. Ginny giggled.

The girls were sitting in beds next to each other in the hospital wing, a day after being rescued from the Chamber. They were laughing and exchanging stories to keep one another entertained as the sky grew darker and night approached.

Ginny was still in shock and was put on bed rest for the rest of the term, on Dumbledore's orders. Madam Pomfrey said in a few days, she could go back to her dormitories and spend her remaining time on bed rest in her dorm, but the matron wanted to keep an eye on her. She was still almost crying every time you mentioned the whole ordeal.

Georgia was put on bed rest as well, but for a much shorter period. Until the next weekend, at the most. In the meantime, the two were becoming quick friends, although Georgia knew that her dormmates would have it in for her if she became friends with a Weasley, let alone a Gryffindor. But, if you go through the same thing they did, it's almost destiny to share a bond.

"What in the world is a speedboat?" Georgia looked up and saw Draco walking up to her bed. The two exchanged smiles.

"A Muggle boat with a motor attached to make it go really fast without rowing." Georgia responded.

"I'm not even going to ask what a motor is. My father was here last night, after we went to McGonagall's office and you two were taken to the hospital wing because Dumbledore wished to speak to Potter alone. " Draco said.

"How lovely. So, what happened? Why was he here?" Georgia mocked.

"I'm not very sure what happened, but I know that he's upset because he wanted Dumbledore gone and now the old man's back." Draco sighed.

"What's his problem with Dumbledore?" Georgia asked.

"He thinks he's old and senile and irresponsible." Draco answered. "Well, also, I learned that we lost our house elf last night, because of that stupid Potter." Draco spat with disgust.

"House elf?" Georgia asked.

"Pretty much a servant. Ours was getting stupid and we could never find him anywhere." Draco replied. Georgia slapped him.

"A SERVANT?! YOU SELFISH GIT! SLAVERY IS VILE AND CRUEL AND EVERY OTHER WORD THAT MEANS THE SAME THING-"

"Calm down, Georgie. Madam Pomfrey might think you're getting murdered or something." A familiar voice filled the room as Mercedes and Willow walked in. Mercedes handed Georgia a big box.

"Mum heard what happened and sent these to me to give to you. How are you doing?" Sadie asked. Georgia opened the box and found that it was stuffed to the brim with treats and candies.

"Thanks, Sadie. How does your mum get all these candies? I'm feeling fine, by the way." Georgia said.

"She works at the sweet shop in Diagon Alley. Not the career she wanted, see, she wanted to be an Healer, but didn't get enough NEWTS, so she settled for the candy shop business. She likes it though, and it comes with its perks, especially for me." Mercedes smirked.

"Well, tell her I send my thanks." Georgia said. Willow turned her head towards the petrified victims.

"I wonder when the Mandrake Draught will be ready and they can revive the Petrified." Willow wondered.

"It's ready, I heard, but they are waiting for a few days to administer it due to what happened yesterday. Their main focus is on me and Ginny right now." Georgia replied.

"Sorry, everyone, but visiting hours are over. Out, out, everyone out! Give these girls time to rest!" Madam Pomfrey appeared suddenly and ushered everyone out.

"Thanks for stopping by. I'll see you later." Georgia smiled at her friends as they disappeared out of the room.

_Page_break_

"Okay, I think that's everything." Georgia stood back to stare at her bed and dresser, now bare of her personal items. It was the day that they went home for the summer, and Georgia felt sad that she was leaving her new second home and her new friends, but happy to go see her family again.

"G, run me through my checklist?" Willow asked her and handed her a sheet of parchment.

"I'm sure you have everything, and you can check yourself. Someone stole some of poor Luna's things, and I have to go help her find them." Georgia said. Mercedes tried to stifle a giggle, but failed.

"Really, Sadie?"

"I couldn't help it! She's a vulnerable weirdo, and I'm a Slytherin!" Mercedes confessed.

"Give it back." Georgia demanded.

"Fine..." Sadie groaned and handed her some strange jewelry, including her radish earrings and a ring with a beetle on it, a purple quill that Luna uses all the time, and a pair of shoes.

"Thank you. I'll take these to Luna. I might as well put my bag in the common room." Georgia said, as she grabbed her bag and Chaton's crate with her free hand and dragged it out the dormitory, sneaking one last glance at the room, before walking out the door.

The common room was full of students and luggage. She placed her bag and crate right by where Mercedes placed hers earlier and walked to the exit, but saw Draco leaving his dormitory, pulling his trunk while carrying his owl. She walked to him and took the big cage out of his hands.

"Thanks." Draco smiled. "What's all the stuff?"

"Freeman stole some of Luna's things, so I'm taking them back to her. Want to join me?" Georgia asked.

"I can't. I have to, uh, do some things before I go..."

"I know when you're lying, Draco. Come on, let's go. We may as well take our things." Georgia said as she waved her wand, and her luggage floated up and towards her.

"Okay, fine." Draco said and grabbed his owl and trunk. They left the common room and went up to the Great Hall, where it was packed full of students. She noticed Luna handing people flyers, so she waved the blonde girl down.

"Hello Georgia, Draco." Luna greeted them.

"What are you doing?" Georgia asked.

"Just handing around my list of things of mine that have gone missing. Maybe someone will want to return them." Luna replied. Georgia handed her the items in her arm.

"Freeman took them. I'm really sorry about that." Georgia apologized.

"Thank you so much for returning them! That's the nicest thing anyone's done for me since you guys sat with me that day." Luna smiled.

"It's no problem at all." Georgia smiled.

"Well, I best be going to find the rest of my things. I'll see you guys later." Luna said as she skipped away.

"Let's go down to the train; it's probably going to leave in the next hour." Georgia said. The two grabbed their luggage and walked down to where the carriages to take them down to the station are, and climbed in the nearest one.

"This has been such a nice year. I really liked getting to know you, Draco." Georgia said as the carriage started moving.

"Oh.. uh, yeah, you too." Draco stuttered.

"Come on, say I'm your best mate. It's okay, I won't tell Crabbe and Goyle. I swear." Georgia smirked.

"Well, I guess... Fine, you're my best mate."

"There! Was that so hard?" Georgia mocked. The carriage stopped and the two walked out with their luggage. They walked to the train and got in, each being given a paper telling them that they couldn't perform magic at home, and Georgia led Draco into a compartment where Ginny Weasley sat, looking out the window. She looked and smiled at Georgia as she heard them come in. Draco flinched the moment he saw her.

"Nu uh. No way am I sitting with a Weasley. I've already had my share of them this year." Draco whispered to Georgia.

"Fine. You go sit with those thugs and that ugly Parkinson girl, but I'm not moving." Georgia hissed back.

"Whatever. See you later." Draco said and turned around to go find his dormmates. Georgia sat down and smiled at Ginny, and the two started talking. A few moments later, the compartment door opened and in popped Luna, who sat next to Ginny. Draco came back a few minutes before the train was set to leave and sat down next to Georgia.

"What happened? Parkinson annoying you?" Georgia smirked.

"Well, long story short, the Haliways arrived." Draco sighed.

"And let me guess, you figured that sitting with us is better than getting your ear talked off?" Georgia smiled.

"Well, yes."

"Haha, no." She sarcastically smirked.

"You're impossible."

"But you love me."

"Maybe. As a friend, of course."


	17. Chapter 16

Georgia Newton stumbled into her family room and sat on the top of the sofa, letting herself fall down so that she was hanging upside-down. The twelve-year-old pretended to be interested in the talk show that was playing on the television but let out a sigh of boredom after a couple minutes. It was the first of August, and a rather warm day, but Georgia didn't want to go outside. She didn't want to do anything.

"What's wrong, Georgie?" Her mother asked as she dried dishes in the adjacent kitchen. Despite being in her mid-thirties, Sabrina Newton still managed to look very good for her age, with her long strawberry blonde hair ad hazel eyes, although she had a few wrinkles here and there (That were totally not from Georgia). Except for the hair and glasses, which both came from her father, Georgia's appearance came all from her mum.

"I'm bored." Georgia sighed.

"Well, that isn't obvious." Her mother said sarcastically. "I get it that Josie's out of town for the week, but that doesn't mean you can sulk around the place." Josie, her best friend, was off in Bristol for her cousin's wedding.

"It's not completely from that." Georgia replied. "I'm just sad that I can't do magic."

You see, Georgia wasn't a normal girl. She was a witch and would be returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry next month for her second year. Her first year was... interesting and eventful. She became the first Muggle-born in half a century to be Sorted into Slytherin house, became friends with Draco Malfoy, the heir of the biggest pureblood supremacist family in all of Britain, and also got to know Luna Lovegood, the polar opposite of Draco, except a little more (correction: waaaaaaayy more) strange, had a self-absorbed Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who turned out to be a total fraud and tried to erase Draco and two other boys' minds, but instead ended up losing his own, and was dragged into the infamous myth-turned-truth Chamber of Secrets by her new friend Ginny Wealsey while she was possessed by Tom Riddle, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

After a year like that, you would think Georgia's parents wouldn't even think about letting her go back, but after they were reassured that nothing like being dragged into the Chamber would never happen to Georgia ever again, they decided to let her go back without a second thought.

"Speaking of which, have you heard from your friends at school?" Her mother asked.

"Yes, Luna sent me a letter last week, Mercedes sent me a postcard from Africa, where she's vacationing, Ginny sent me a photo from Egypt and Willow owled me yesterday." Georgia groaned. She didn't mention Draco, as she never told her parents about him. She doesn't know why, but she thinks her dad might freak out at her being close with a boy. Especially if he had any idea who the Malfoys were.

As soon as she said that, her father walked through the door.

"Hi Dad." Georgia said.

"Back already?" Her mother asked as they pecked each other on the lips, earning a grimace from their daughter. Franco Newton walked up to Georgia and pushed her legs off of where they were hanging, causing her to fall to the ground. She looked back at her dad and blew a raspberry at him. Short brown hair and rectangle glasses with slight stubble made him look like an "overgrown geek" as her mum said. This was true, as he worked at a tech support place.

"Yes, they sent me home early. Told me that there's some lunatic that escaped from prison running around the place, and that I should get home and get off the streets" He sighed. "What's for dinner?" He asked.

"I thought your parents were coming over and your mum was making something?" her mum questioned.

"Nana and Papa are coming?!" Georgia exclaimed, on her knees on the sofa, facing the kitchen behind the couch.

"Yeah, about that... Dad's golfing mates dragged him out today, and Mum says he won't be back till late."

"Well, I guess pizza won't hurt? We'd have Italian either way." her mum said, picking up the telephone, and browsing through the phonebook. Georgia's Nana was full Italian, and her Papa was half Italian, half Irish, which meant he spoke with a strange cross accent. They moved to England a few years after Georgia was born to be with their son and his family (Georgia's mum was British, and her father went to collage in England, where the two met.), and lived near London, about an hour and a half's drive away.

"Can we get stuffed crust, Mum?" Georgia asked as her mother dialed the local pizza restaurant.

"Of course."

"And breadsticks?"

"Sure"

"And-"

"Let me guess, those little cinnamon dessert sticks?" Georgia's mother asked. Georgia nodded as her mum started placing the order and sat back down on the sofa, sighing to herself. She was kind of spoiled, but only sometimes. Like, when it wasn't too much she was asking for or she survived a trip to the health clinic for a needle (She HATES needles). During these times of pampering, she always got what she wanted. If you think about it, that might be a factor on why she was Sorted into Slytherin house.

"How long till it gets here?" Georgia asked.

"Twenty minutes. So, let me see that letter you got from school today!" Her mum exclaimed. Georgia reached for the table, where she put the letter from Hogwarts she received, containing all the information she needs for her second year.

Her mother read the letter, then put it down with an exasperated look.

"They don't want much this year, huh? Just one book? And all that money we spent last year on all those books by that crazy teacher who lost his mind."

"Trust me, some middle-age witch will be more than pleased to buy Lockhart's books off us for half-price." Georgia said.

"Well, I guess we'll go to Diagon Alley next week or so. I know it's just one book, but I would like to go shopping in downtown London." Georgia's mum announced.

"Please leave me in Diagon Alley!" Georgia begged. Her mum smiled.

"We'll see."

The programme on the television changed to the news, and Georgia's father sat down on his chair in the family room, grabbing the remote.

"Come watch, Sabrina! The story about the prisoner will most likely be first." Her father exclaimed as her mother sat down on the sofa next to Georgia.

"Good evening. A dangerous criminal escaped his prison cell last night and is believed to be at large tonight." The newscaster woman said in her grim, monotone voice that Georgia used to hear all the time. The screen changed to show a picture of a filthy-dirty, evil, menacing-looking man with dirty shoulder-length black hair and yellow teeth together in a wicked grin.

"Sirius Black, as shown in this picture, is 5 foot 9, with black hair, medium build but most likely thinner at the moment, and grey eyes. He is armed and dangerous. He was convicted of murder in 1981 and was sentenced to life in prison. Anyone with information, please call this special hotline on the screen. Citizens are requested to stay off the streets, as Black could be anywhere in Britain."

"I guess they're not going to tell us where he broke out of." Georgia's dad said.

"Black, Black… Where do I know that… Be right back!" Georgia exclaimed, hopping off the sofa and up the stairs. A moment later, she returned with a newspaper.

"This is the Daily Prophet, the Wizarding newspaper, from today. My friend Mercedes helped me get a subscription for the summer. Look, see, front page." Georgia said, giving it to her dad."

"Sirius Black Escapes from Azkaban. Oh my. And it says here that he was convicted of the murder of thirteen people…" Her father read, handing the paper to her mum.

"What's Azkaban?" Georgia's mother asked, grabbing the paper from her husband.

"The wizard prison. Willow told me about." Georgia replied. The doorbell rang at that moment.

"I'll get it." Her mum got up and went to the door.

Well, if there's a prisoner on the loose, this school year is going to be just as interesting as last year, Georgia thought


	18. Chapter 17

Georgia hopped out of the car as it pulled to the side of the curb in downtown London. Reaching in, she grabbed her robe off of the seat next to her and shut the door. Her mother came around from the passengers side as the car, her dad driving, pulled away.

"Okay, honey. Here is 100 pounds, go have fun, I included some extra so you can get yourself a treat. You'll need new robes, I suppose? You grew quite a bit. I guess I'd better throw in a extra 50..." Her mother said, handing her some bank notes. "I'm going to go do some shopping, meet me back here in two hours. Dad will be back to pick us up, okay? Stay out of trouble."

"Yes, mum. Bye." Georgia waved to her mother, slipped on her robe and fastened it, and walked towards a completely black building that she knew Muggles couldn't see and pushed open the door. The Leaky Cauldron was bustling with witches gossiping and wizards having drinks with each other. Nobody even glanced when the door opened and Georgia walked in, as this time of year students came in all the time. She walked to the back of the pub and pushed open the back door.

"Where's the right brick again? I wrote it down somewhere..." Georgia said to herself, looking through her pockets, pulling out a piece of paper.

"Right, three up, two across from the trash can..." Georgia looked for the right brick and tapped it. The wall opened to reveal the Wizarding shopping district. Georgia made her way through the busy marketplace and towards the end of the street, where Gringotts Wizarding Bank stood. Georgia walked up the stairs and pushed open the doors, then walked through the entrance hall and pushed open the second set of doors. Long counters occupied with goblin tellers stretched all the way through the building to even more doors. Georgia walked a bit until she saw the Muggle Money Exchange till. She walked up to it and waited in line as the person ahead of her grabbed their money and walked off.

Georgia walked up the the till and handed the goblin teller the bank notes her mother gave her. The goblin counted the money and started counting Galleons, Sickles and Knuts.

"And this goes to...?" the goblin asked.

"Georgia Newton, sir''

The goblin took a quill and wrote her name on a little money bag (Georgia supposed it was for if her money was stolen), then put the coins in the bag and pushed it over to her.

"30 Galleons, 2 Sickles, and 1 Knut." the goblin said.

"Thank you, sir." Georgia said, grabbing her money and leaving the building. She put the bag in her pocket and headed towards Flourish and Blotts for the book she needed for school. She walked through the door and spotted her friend and fellow Slytherin, Willow Summers, leaning on the bookshelves, reading Quidditch Through the Ages. Willow looked up from her book, spotted Georgia, and gave her a wave. Georgia walked towards her.

"Hello Willow." Georgia said.

"Hey, Georgia. The book we need is down that aisle over there. Transfiguration section, under G authors." Willow muttered.

"You should really work here." Georgia commented, heading towards the aisle Willow referred to, finding the book, and grabbing a copy.

"Look at those books." Willow said when Georgia returned, pointing towards a cage with huge books rolling around, biting, growling and making a huge fuss.

"Woah."

"The Monster Book of Monsters. Thanks, I'll stick with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." Willow said.

"No kidding... I'm going to go pay for this." Georgia said.

"I'll come with you." Willow exclaimed, putting down the book she was reading and picking up a different book.

"You're not getting that?" Georgia questioned.

"No! I already have a copy of it." Willow answered. Georgia gave her a confused look and walked to the till, handing the cashier two Galleons.

"I'm headed to Madam Malkin's. What about you?" Georgia asked.

"Quality Quidditch Supplies. There's a beautiful new broom out, the Firebolt. It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen, but it's wickedly expensive, so I'm going to admire it and fantasize about owning it." Willow sighed dreamily.

"Okay then. I'll see you around." Georgia waved as Willow turned the opposite direction. Georgia headed towards Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and opened the door. A witch came towards her and asked, "Hogwarts?". Georgia nodded, and the woman led her in front of a mirror and had her stand on a stool as she took Georgia's measurements.

"House?" The woman asked.

"Slytherin." Georgia replied.

The woman then left and returned with a Slytherin uniform quite like what Georgia owned then, but a bit bigger.

"Go try this on." The witch said, handing her the robes and motioning to row of curtained dressing rooms. Georgia went to the nearest unoccupied one and shut the curtain. She slipped off her clothes and quickly put the robes on. She examined herself in the mirror, checking to see how they looked on her. Plenty of growing room, but not too loose, pretty good, she thought. She quickly changed and took the robes up to the cashier to pay for them.

"Seven Galleons, please." The cashier-lady said. Georgia reached into her money bag and pulled out seven gold coins, handing them to the cashier. The lady put Georgia's uniform in a bag, and handed it to her. Georgia took the bag and made her way out of the store. She decided to have a look around at the stalls and shops, when she heard a loud voice shouting, "Oi! Newton! Over here!". She looked, and saw her dormmate Mercedes Freeman, waving from across the street, Slytherin robe-clad, her black-to-blonde ombre hair in a long braid. She made her way to her good friend, trying her best not to get trampled over by a group of sixth-years crossing in her path.

"Hey, Sadie." Georgia smiled. "You know Summers is here?"

"Hi Georgie. Yeah, I hung out with Willow for a bit. Come, follow me." Mercedes motioned for Georgia to follow her as she walked into a purple building, windows displaying candies and sweets.

"Welcome to Sugarplum's Sweets Shop." Mercedes announced as Georgia saw walls lined with candy and shelves full of Cauldron Cakes and Pumpkin Pasties. A barrel of Every-Flavor Beans and a display of Chocolate Frogs completed the scene. Kids wearing Hogwarts robes were all over the store, scanning the shelves and carrying armfuls of candy.

"This is where your mum works, Sade?" Georgia asked.

"Yeah. It's nothing fancy, my mum says it's nothing compared to Honeydukes, in Hogsmeade. I can't wait till next year, when we'll be allowed to go there, you know, Hogsmeade! Now go get yourself something sweet, I'll talk Mum into giving you a discount." Sadie exclaimed.

Georgia browsed the shop for a few minutes, filling her arms with enough treats to last her until she went back to Hogwarts. She went up to the counter, where Mercedes was standing with a woman with black hair and a stressed out look to her.

"Georgie, this is my mum. Mum, you know who Georgia is." Mercedes introduced them. The woman offered her hand to Georgia and smiled a slightly fake smile.

"'Ello there. Mercedes has told me a lot about you. I'm Gwendolyn Freeman." The woman spoke in a mild Welsh accent, which Georgia noted wasn't passed down to her daughter. She took the witch's hand and shook it, then put down her sweets on the counter as added up the costs.

"That'll be 5 Galleons, sweetheart." Georgia handed her the money and picked up her candies off the till, putting them in her pockets.

"So, Mer, why don't you take Georgia to Florean Fortescue's? While I deal with... You know, the August rush?" Mrs. Freeman said, staring rather hatefully at a large group of kids Georgia's age that just walked in. Mercedes grabbed Georgia's hand and led her out of the store.

"Where are we going?" Georgia asked as they crossed the street.

"For ice cream. I love this place here, Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Have you been?"

"No, I haven't" Georgia replied as they entered the small shop. Pink and green walls with tables and chairs of the same color lined the store, with a long glass counter displaying all the ice cream flavors.

"Over 30 flavors... I've tried all of them. Peanut Butter Brittle is my favorite, with Cookie Dough close behind. I'm going to get the Cookie Sundae. What is your favorite flavor, Georgie?" Mercedes asked.

"I like Tutti Frutti, Cotton Candy, and Mint Chip."

"Well, I recommend the Minty Forest Sundae. It's gobs of Mint Chip ice cream in a waffle bowl, with tons of hot fudge drizzled on top. And, of course, a cherry on top. I recommend eating it on an empty stomach, though. It's huge!" Mercedes exclaimed as they walked up to the counter and placed their orders. Georgia followed Sadie's advice and got the mint sundae, and she found out that her friend was not wrong.

"It's as big as my head!" Georgia exclaimed when their sundaes were ready.

"I told you. If you can't finish it, go up to the counter and they'll put a Freezing Charm on it to keep it cold and still taste as good as it does fresh, even if you eat it a month later. Let's go sit outside." Mercedes said as they walked out the door and sat on the chairs outside in front of the store.

"So, how was your summer, Sadie? How was Africa?" Georgia asked as she started eating her ice cream.

"It was great! I learnt a lot about the Wizarding culture down there, which although cool, wasn't nearly as interesting as the Muggle safari we went on. We rode in, what's it called? It's a car, but had a funny name. Something like 'beep'."

"Jeep?"

"That's it, the name was on the front of the car. It felt weird, kinda like flying, but different. Well, anyways, we saw all this wildlife, it was so cool! I mean, they weren't dragons or anything, but there was hippos and giraffes and elephants and leopards. But the coolest thing of all was seeing the lions. Their teeth are the size of your cat!" Sadie exclaimed.

"Wow. That's so cool."

"I know! I'll totally go back one day. And since we got back, I've been spending my days here with Mum. How was your summer?"

"Same old, nothing interesting. Except me and my best mate went to the boardwalk in Southend and she won this huge stuffed dog. The thing was two times bigger than her!"

"How'd she win it?"

"In a game."

"What kind of game?"

"One where you throw darts, which are pretty much mini throw-able daggers, at balloons and try to pop as many as you can." Georgia explained. Mercedes nodded.

"I know what darts are, silly. My dad has a board at home, and we play sometimes. Mum doesn't get it though."

"Speaking of that, your mum doesn't seem as fond of her job as you made it seem."

"Yeah, she's okay with it, up until what they call "The August Rush". When all the kids start coming in for their books and things, they'll always come in and stock up. Good for business, but there's always a incident at least every half hour. Some kid knocking over the Every-Flavor Beans barrel, older kids fighting for the last Sugar Quill, and there's almost always a lost child in there, while their parents are frantically looking for them everywhere else. Mum has started to despise them quite a bit." Mercedes told her.

"Oh, what time is it, Sadie?" Georgia asked. Mercedes looked at the watch on her wrist.

"Ten to four. Why?"

"I'm supposed to go meet my mum at four... I'll go get them to do the charm thing..." Georgia said.

"No, it's fine, I'll go do it for you. You can gather up your things." Mercedes offered, taking Georgia's ice cream and walking back into the store. Georgia cleaned up all the napkins and put them into the nearby garbage can, then returned to her seat to wait for Sadie. She stared at the crowd, waving to a few of her classmates as they passed by, when Mercedes returned.

"Here you go, I'll see you September first!" Mercedes smiled as the two shared a quick one-armed hug. Georgia started to make her way back to The Leaky Cauldron, waving back at her friend.

"Bye, Sadie! Tell your mum it was nice to meet her!" Georgia exclaimed, walking through the open wall and opening the back door of The Leaky Cauldron. She walked through the pub once again until she was at the front door. She pulled it open, and stepped foot back into the Muggle world.


	19. Chapter 18

Georgia entered Platform 9 3/4 with ease, making her way through the crowd. She gave her parents each a hug and then boarded the train. She was late. Very late. The train was due to leave in five minutes. The reason she was there so late is a long story, but let's just say it involved a luggage mishap, the neighbor's beagle running loose and hitching a ride in Georgia's mum's car, unbeknownst to anyone (they found out about the dog halfway to London.), and a faulty parking meter. Georgia wished to never speak of it.

She searched for a compartment when she found Mercedes staring out the window at the rain pattering down on the window, all by herself in an empty compartment.

"Hi Sadie." Georgia smiled, sitting across from her friend. Mercedes turned around and gave Georgia a small grin. Georgia took Chaton out of her crate and held her in her arms.

"Where's Summers?" Georgia asked. Mercedes shrugged.

"I don't know. I didn't see her at all today."

"Weird. Well, at least, I'll make sure you're not lonely." Georgia smiled, reaching and closing the compartment door. Almost as soon as she closed it, it opened and in walked Draco Malfoy. He had grown over the summer, and his hair, which last year was slick and gelled back, was now messy and longer. He sat down beside Georgia and smirked at her as the train left the station. Georgia put her cat down, who curled up right next to Draco.

"And just when I thought you'd be with Loony Lovegood and the Weaselette, you surprise me once again by sitting with someone in your house for once."

"And hello to you too." Georgia said. "I was late."

"Have you seen Willow, Draco?" Mercedes asked.

"No, I haven't."

"Very strange. Well, I hope you two don't mind me hanging around." Mercedes said.

"It's fine, Sadie-" The compartment door opened and Daphne Greengrass, a fellow Slytherin in Draco's year, came in with a small brown haired first-year girl.

"Hello Malfoy, Freeman, Newton." she greeted them.

"Hi Daphne. Come and sit down." Georgia said. The two sat down next to Sadie.

"This is my little sister, Astoria. This is her first year." Daphne motioned to the shy-looking girl.

"I don't need you introducing me." the girl snapped at her sister. Daphne gave her a warning look.

"Well, Tori, this is Draco Malfoy, you might remember who he is, Mercedes Freeman right here, she's a half-blood. Her mother was Gwendolyn Carrow, who was disowned for marrying a Muggle-born, she's the second cousin to Flora and Hestia Carrow, they are a few years ahead of us, though." Daphne said. Astoria stared at them in awe.

"I didn't know you had cousins in Hogwarts." Georgia said to Mercedes.

"Yeah. I only met them once. Pure-bloods and half-bloods are all somehow related, you just have to look. I'm sure if I was able to look, I'd be somehow related to Draco. I probably have a great-great-great-grandmother that was a Black." Mercedes explained.

"And, that right there, is Georgia Newton. First Muggle-born in Slytherin in half a century, and Draco's best friend, believe it or not." Daphne finished.

"So, I can't tell Mother or Father about your group of friends, and you'll let me hang out with you?" Astoria asked. Daphne nodded. Georgia felt a rather warm feeling that not one but two, possibly three, members of pureblood families considered Georgia their friend.

The friends made small talk and told each other about their summer holidays, when Daphne suddenly changed the subject.

"So, you all heard about Black, huh?"

"Daffy, who hasn't?" Mercedes sighed.

"Yeah, I heard it on the Muggle news even. Pretty big deal." Georgia said.

"The Ministry has gone mad over the whole thing. They're in disbelief that the Dementors somehow let him escape." Mercedes said.

"Dementors?" Georgia asked.

"The guards of Azkaban. They're these tall, hooded creatures that suck the happiness out of you." Daphne answered.

"They sound like the life of the party." Georgia said sarcastically.

They kept making small talk and enjoying each other's company when Willow suddenly appeared in the doorway about an hour into the train ride.

"There you are, Sade. I've been looking everywhere for you!" she exclaimed.

"I've been here this whole time. Surely, you would look-" Mercedes started, but Willow grabbed her arm.

"Come on, let's go. I'll buy you something from the trolley to make up for me being gone."

"Where were you?" Mercedes asked, squeezing past the Greengrasses and headed out of the compartment.

"None of your business. " Georgia heard Willow snap as they were walking away.

"Are those two normally like that?" Draco asked.

"No, usually they are inseparable and never fight. I wonder what's happened." Georgia said.

"They normally remind me of those two Gryffindor girls in our year that are almost as annoying as Potter and company. You know, Draco? Patil and Brown?" Daphne questioned.

"Yeah, those two are pretty much joined at the hip." Draco responded. They talk for a a more minutes then sit in awkward silence until Daphne gets up, says, "I'm going to introduce Tori to the rest of my friends." ,says goodbye and the two leave. Draco and Georgia sit awkwardly next to each other, alone, and Georgia prays for someone to come and save her from this uncomfortable situation.

As she thinks that, the tea trolley pops by. Georgia avoids Draco's stare and gets a few Chocolate Frogs and some Pumpkin Pasties and Cauldron Cakes. As the two are trading Frog cards later on, a familiar red-headed girl walks in and sits down, followed by a girl with long dirty blonde hair.

"Hey Georgia! Guess what?" Ginny said, pretending not to notice Draco.

"What?"

"I got Exploding Snap! Wanna play?" Ginny asked as she sat down. Luna sat next to her, pulling out the latest issue of "The Quibbler" and starts reading, oblivious to what's going on around her.

"Sure. I don't really know how to play, though."

"It's really simple, all you have to do is-"

Ginny stopped as the train suddenly slowed down.

"Are we there already?" Draco asked as the train went slower and slower.

"We can't be." Ginny said. The train skidded to a full stop and the lights turned off, leaving them in the dark.

"What's happening?"

"Is that you, Luna?"

"No, that's - Ouch! Who's pulling my hair?"

"I'm going to go find Ron- Oof! Who was that?" Ginny exclaimed as she tripped over Draco's leg and the two tumbled to the ground.

"Me, oww..."

The compartment soon became full of chaos as Ginny tried to leave. Chaton was running all over them, hissing and growling in fear, and Georgia felt her glasses slip off her face, reducing her vision even more. Ginny eventually found her way out, leaving the three behind as she went to find her brother.

"My glasses fell o- Hey! Who kicked me in the face?"

"Sorry, Georgia, it was me. I think I found your glas- Never mind, it's just a empty box." Luna said.

Georgia felt around the ground and found them under the table. She put them back on, just to find out that they were badly cracked.

"Damn, my glasses are broke... Wait, where's my wand?"

"I got it! At least, I think." Draco said, holding up her wand.

"Yeah, that's it. Occulus Reparo!" Georgia said. Her glasses mended in a instant. The three calmed down and sat back in their seats. The rain pounded heavily against the train and the wind howled. All of a sudden, the air turned cold. A tall, hooded creature just like the one that Daphne described earlier appeared in front of the compartment door, peaking in. Georgia was startled at the sight of it and reached subconsciously for Draco's hand. At this contact, the two looked at each other, quickly moved their hands away, and Georgia felt herself blush. That feeling didn't last long as it was replaced with a cold, dark, depressed feeling as the Dementor poked its head into the compartment.

Georgia no longer felt any happiness. She couldn't find any happy memories left in her. All she had was the sad, unhappy ones. As soon as she felt like her life was nothing but melancholy and hopelessness, the Dementor moved away from them and out of the compartment. Georgia felt her normal self return back, but not really the same as before. She looked around at her friends. Luna no longer had her dreamy look to her, but still stared off into space and said nothing. Draco looked as white as a ghost.

"What just happened?" Draco said, not in his normal cocky, overconfident voice, but in a blank, slightly scared one.

"The Dementors, I'm sure. They must be checking to see if we are secretly smuggling Sirius Black into Hogwarts in our luggage or something." Georgia said. She normally makes comments like that all the time, but this time, it didn't feel the same. Georgia breathed in and tried to collect herself. The lights soon came back on and the train was back on its way to Hogwarts.

Daphne Greengrass suddenly bust into the compartment, followed by Astoria.

"Is everyone ok- Oh, hello Lovegood." Daphne's eyes went wide at the sight of Luna and gave Georgia and Draco a questioning look.

"Yeah, we're fine." Draco mumbled.

"No, you're not. I heard you should eat chocolate after something like that. Here, have a Frog." Daphne demanded, handing the three each a box. Georgia opened hers and bit the head off of her frog, instantly feeling better.

"Hey, Draco. This will get you feeling better. A Dementor entered Potter's compartment and he fainted." Daphne giggled.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah! Come with me, I think Blaise saw it better than I did, so let's ask him about it." Daphne said, Draco got up and followed her.

"You coming, Newton?" He asked before he left.

"No thanks. I'm good." Georgia said quickly. She needed more time to recover. Things were going to get pretty interesting at Hogwarts this year, Georgia knew that much.


	20. Chapter 19

Georgia slipped beside Draco at the Slytherin table as the Great Hall filled up, students in anticipation for the Start-of-Term Feast. She was quite relieved to see a new teacher at the staff table that was more than likely their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He was dressed in worn out, dirty clothes, and looked tired and stressed, with scars and bruises across his face, but still looked like a much better teacher than Lockhart ever was.

"Hey, check out the new guy." She heard Mercedes tell Willow for across their table, pointing at the man at the staff table.

"So? New teacher. Who cares?" Willow mumbled, busy reading something that Georgia couldn't quite see.

"What is going on between those two?" Draco whispered, joining her in eavesdropping her friends' conversation.

"Beats me. I hope they hurry up and start the Sorting. I'm famished." Georgia stated. Almost as soon as she said that, the first-years came through the grand doors, led by Professor Flitwick.

"Where's McGonagall?" Georgia wondered out loud.

"I don't know, or really care. All I care about is how fast this Sorting goes for, so we can get to the feast part of this thing." Draco said.

Georgia clapped as the first student (Aroent, Hillary) was Sorted into Slytherin. The next few students went by rather quickly, and soon, Astoria was called. Professor Flitwick stood on a stool as Astoria sat down and he placed the hat on her. The hat was on for a good few minutes, before shouting, "SLYTHERIN!" just like it did for Georgia a year prior. Astoria came down to their table and sat next to her sister.

"The hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw, but I knew Mother and Father wouldn't approve." Georgia heard her mutter to her sister.

Georgia sighed in relief as the last student (Vane, Romilda) was Sorted into Gryffindor. The hall went silent as Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" his voice echoed through the room. "I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast..."

"You're kidding me! I just want to eat." Georgia groaned.

"As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business." Dumbledore announced.

"Wait, what? We're going to have to deal with those things for the whole year?" Draco muttered, face turning pale.

"Apparently." Georgia said nervously.

Dumbledore said a few more things about the Dementors that she tuned out, due to the dark, empty feeling in her stomach that came upon the news (Although, it might have been her hunger).

Georgia came back to reality upon change of subject, where Dumbledore announced the staff changes. Their new DADA teacher was by the name of Professor Lupin. Georgia thought with all the scars on his face, that he might know a thing or two.

"Now," Dumbledore said, "Our Care of Magicial Creatures teacher, Professor Kettleburn, has retired in order to spend time with his remaining limbs. I am pleased to announce that Rubeus Hagrid will be taking over this position."

"Great, now I have to deal with that stupid oaf. Why didn't I choose Divination instead?" Draco groaned.

"Hagrid's not that bad..." Georgia said.

"Of course you'd say that."

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Georgia whisper-snapped.

"Nothing, just- Finally! Food!" Draco exclaimed as the table filled with food that appeared out of thin air. Everyone was filling their plates full of everything they could reach. Georgia filled her goblet with pumpkin juice and grabbed a handful of whatever she could reach.

After the last of the pudding had been eaten up, Georgia stood up, belly full, and started following the group of first-years, led by prefects, to the Slytherin dungeon, as she didn't know the password, followed by an arguing Mercedes and Willow. As the group filed their way into the common room, Georgia made a beeline to her dormitory. She sighed as she opened the door with the "Second-Years" sign on it and saw her bed, with the Daffy Duck poster still hanging behind it and the pictures still on her nightstand. She plopped down on her bed, exhausted and trying to enjoy her time before classes started the next day.

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Georgia joined Luna, who was at the back of the line of students waiting to fill up the classroom. Everyone was buzzing with excitement for their first Defence Against the Dark Arts class, which was with the Ravenclaws.

"I hope this Lupin guy is better than Lockhart." Georgia said. Luna stared at her for a good few moments, then slowly nodded her head and pulled out of her bag a copy of The Quibbler. Georgia smiled at her strange friend. The classroom doors opened and Georgia's peers all filed in. Her and Luna took seats at the back of class, where maybe if things got boring, they might be able to play Exploding Snap without getting caught. This Professor Lupin guy stood at the front of the classroom, wearing shabby and dirty old robes.

"Good day, class. I am Professor Lupin. I will be your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. I've been told that your teacher last year... wasn't satisfactory," Georgia giggled as he said that. "but hopefully classes this year can go on well without incident. Now, today, we will start with revision. Now, as I understand, you worked on Fire Crabs, Imps, and Gargoyles last year?" Lupin finished.

"Somewhat." Georgia muttered to Mercedes, who sat in front of her. Mercedes giggled.

"So, can anyone tell me what is the difference between an Imp and a pixie?" Lupin asked. About half the class rose their hands, but Georgia didn't, instead taking sudden interest in something across the room. It must've looked obvious that she wasn't paying attention, because Lupin said, "What about you, Georgia?". Georgia snapped her head back in shock. Teachers rarely called her by her first name.

"Oh, um, yeah. Imps are, um, the same size as pixies, but- uh- don't have brightly-coloured skin and can't fly?" She said, but it came out like a question.

"Correct. Take 5 points for Slytherin." Lupin said. Georgia gave a sigh of relief.

The rest of class went by smoothly, and Georgia found herself rather liking Lupin. He was much better than Lockhart and actually knew the subject. She left class with a smile, thinking that things might be better this year. She and Luna made their way to Charms, their second class of the day, which they had once again with the Ravenclaws. Flitwick greeted them with a smile and taught them a new Charm, the Freezing Charm. Lunch came quicker than Georgia thought it would, then came Herbology with the Gryffindors, where they went into a different greenhouse and repotted Mandrakes, just like Draco told her about last year.

After that,Transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs, her last class of the day, which Georgia saw McGonagall was teaching once again, leaving Georgia to wonder just where was she last night. They started working on changing a beetle to a button, which Georgia ended up turning hers into a rather freaky-looking brown button with antenna and little legs, causing many people to squeal as it fell of the desk and moved around the floor, causing her and Mercedes to double over in laughter.

Georgia almost ran out of the classroom the moment the bell ran. She was tired, as the amount of classes she had to take almost doubled from last year. She was thankful that they didn't have to do Astronomy that night, one of her least favorite classes, due to that fact that it was so late at night. She wandered sleepily to the Great Hall for something to eat, when Willow came up to her begrudgingly.

"Hey, Willow. What's the matter with yo-"

"Never you mind. Malfoy's up in the hospital wing. Thought you should know." Willow said grumpily.

"What?" Georgia whisper-yelled.

"Yeah. I think it happened during Care of Magical Creatures class or something like that." Willow said, then quickly walked away. Georgia broke into a run to the hospital wing.


	21. Chapter 20

"Hey, Georgia, can you carry my books for me?"

"No way in hell, Malfoy. You are well capable of doing it yourself."

"But it hurts!"

"Stop being such a wimp. You brought this upon yourself. Why? Because you're a git and a complete idiot who can never keep his mouth shut." Georgia snapped. Draco's arm was bandaged up and he was acting as if he was in extreme pain, although Georgia knew better than to fall for it. The total imbecile she calls her friend decided it would be a clever idea to go up to a Hippogriff (something that looks like a combination of a eagle and a horse) during Care of Magical Creatures class a few days ago now and insult it although he was clearly told not to and got his arm cut up by the creature.

"That's not very nice. Tsk Tsk, what would your mother say about your language?" Draco mocked.

"She'd be proud." Georgia retorted and started walking faster than Draco, who was pretending like his arm prevented him from walking. To keep his act up, he couldn't speed up, so he let her walk ahead.

"Hey, Newton!" he called after her. She stopped and turned on her heel to face him.

"What?" she snarled.

"Come back, you need to help me get to Transfiguration!" Draco yelled at her.

"You can get there yourself. I've got to make it to Potions." she hollered back.

"It doesn't matter if you're late for that, Snape'll let it slide anyways!" she heard him yell, but she was already around the corner. She waited until she couldn't hear anymore muttered curse words, then let out a giggle and a sigh of relief. She may or may not have told a little white lie. It was her free period, and she had no class to go to. All day, Draco was either complaining about his arm, or Quidditch tryouts that evening that he had to be there for despite his arm, although he would not be flying.

She made her way down to the common room, where she plopped down on one of the couches with a sigh. Since his injury almost a week ago now, Draco's been acting like a whiny little kid. Always complaining about how bad it hurts and expecting Georgia and his other Slytherin friends to help him. Of course, Georgia had none of it, but sometimes Daphne and Blaise would help him get to class, and that pug-faced Parkinson would constantly pretend to pity him and carry his books to class for him, just to try to win him over. The whole ordeal was hilarious to Georgia.

She smiled as Chaton jumped on her lap and purred as Georgia scratched her behind the ear. The common room opened and Mercedes walked in, red-faced and puffy-eyed, plopping down next to Georgia. The two didn't say a word to each other as Mercedes pulled out her Potions homework, but Georgia already knew what was wrong: she had a row with Willow. Georgia pulled out her own homework and the two worked in silence for the next hour, only communicating if it was related to their homework, until they heard the big bell outside chiming. Georgia picked up her school bag and headed for her next class with Sadie.

_Page_break_

"So, tryouts are tonight at 6, correct?" Georgia asked Draco as they were eating dinner in the Great Hall.

"Yes. I really, really, really don't want to go, but Flint said that this was the only day that would work for everyone who's trying out." Draco groaned.

"I'm sure your arm won't affect your opinion on these new players." Georgia said. Draco groaned again.

"Why do you have to be so right all the time?"

"Because I am. Now, no more chit-chat, you need to get down to the pitch."

"Alright, I'll head down..." Draco said, finishing the last of his meal and getting up to head down to the Slytherin Dungeon to get ready.

Georgia smiled. With his complaining arse out of the way, she was looking forward to a nice evening with her friends. Ginny had invited her and Luna (as Georgia introduced them to each other recently) to hang out in the kitchens. It was the perfect place for the three to spend time together without going into another's common room, as the three were from three different houses. She got up and followed a group of Hufflepuffs down a staircase to a painting of a bowl of fruit, just like Ginny instructed her to. She tickled the pear in the bowl of fruit, and as it giggled, it turned into a green door handle. She turned it and pulled open the door.

The kitchens were a big room, about the same size as the Great Hall, with five tables identical to the ones there. House elves were bustling around, cleaning up dishes from dinner and the like, but stopped as soon as she entered, offering her pastries. A fireplace and seating area stood at the end of the hall at Georgia's right, currently occupied by two human-sized figures. One of them reached up and waved.

"Over here!" Ginny yelled. Georgia made her way down, and sat beside Luna. A house elf came and gave her a cup of hot chocolate and put down a few platters of biscuits and cakes.

"Thank you." She said to the house elf, who looked up at her wide-eyed.

"Nobody ever thanks Loobey! Loobey likes Mistress..." the elf said in a squeaky voice.

"You can call me Georgia." She smiled at the house elf. He looked up at her with tears in his eyes.

"Thank you, Mistress Georgia! Nobody appreciates Loobey, until you! Loobey is forever thank-"

"Yeah yeah, I get it. You carry on with what you're doing." Georgia said. Loobey returned gleefully to his work.

"What is with these things, so overemotional?" Georgia asked as she grabbed a biscuit.

"Some are, some aren't. Some of them, like that guy, must have come from a abusive pureblood family." Ginny said.

"But you and Luna are purebloods. Why don't you guys have any?"

"We're what those who are big on blood purity call "blood traitors". We aren't against Muggles and Muggle-borns, and often will marry them and such. We are also not big fans of house elves and slavery, and usually do most of our work ourselves. Some pureblood families, like your friend Malfoy's, don't agree with that. I'm pretty sure if your friend's parents found out about you two, he would probably be disowned." Ginny said, which made Georgia feel slightly guilty.

"Enough talk about that, how have you girls been?" Ginny asked.

"Same old. Malfoy's been getting on my last nerve, though." Georgia said.

"I've been okay, although it's getting about that time of year when the Nargles are really prone." Luna said.

"That's too bad. I hope they don't bother you much." Georgia said. The girls conversed late into the night, until Ginny looked at her watch and told them that it was past curfew.

"How're we going to get out now?" Ginny asked, panicking.

"I don't know about you guys, but the Slytherin dungeon is just one floor below here. I'm good." Georgia said. Ginny gave her a annoyed look.

"Okay, how about you two crash in my common room for tonight? I'll get you guys up early so you can make it back to your dorms before morning.' Georgia declared. The two girls nodded their heads.

"Sounds good. But don't tell Ron. He'll freak out that I spent my night in the "snake pit", as he calls it." Ginny whispered.

The girls got up and slowly pushed open the door, looking both ways for signs of Peeves or Mrs. Norris. They tip-toed to the nearest staircase and as silently as possible, made their way down. Ginny and Luna followed Georgia as she led then through the dungeons to a stone wall.

"Wait here. I'll go check if anyone's in the common room." Georgia whispered. "Ophidian" she said, and the walls bricks moved to form a doorway into the common room. She walked in, and saw Willow and Mercedes sitting together on one of the couches, gossiping and giggling as usual.

"Hey, where have you been?" Mercedes questioned. "Wait until you here the news! Willow, tell her!" She exclaimed and nudged her friend.

"Oh, well, I, well, i mean, OK, um, so, I got..." Willow stammered.

"Just get to it!" Mercedes exclaimed.

"Well, I'm the new Chaser for the Slytherin Quidditch team..."

"Really? That's great! Congratulations! I'm proud of you." Georgia smiled.

"I honestly can't believe Flint let a girl on the team, been known to blow them off at tryouts and completely ignore them, and she was up against quite a few big guys. She beat out Flint's favorite, some fifth-year bloke named Warrington, and stunned half the team. You should've seen it! Willow told me at the last minute she was trying out. That's why she's been so strange, is cause she was nervous. Where were you this whole time?" Mercedes asked.

"Just, er, hanging out with friends." Georgia stuttered. Neither Willow nor Mercedes knew about Luna and Ginny.

"Cool. Now that you're back, we're going to head to bed. Coming?" Willow asked.

"Just give me a minute. I'll be right there." Georgia said. She waited until the dormitory door closed shut, then went outside to bring her friends inside.

"What took you so long?!" Ginny huffed.

"Had to get rid of my dormmates. Hope you don't mind sleeping on the couches. I'm going to my dorm so they don't get suspicious. I'll try and wake you up at five. Night." Georgia said as she walked towards her dorm.

"Good night." She heard them say in unison.


	22. Chapter 21

It was once again October, and the weather was shifting from warm and sunny to chilly and gloomy as the leaves fell. Hallowe'en was fast approaching, yet nobody wanted to go outside, and everyone felt as blue as the elements.

Except Georgia, of course. Using her wand to make tall piles of dead leaves, then hiding behind a tree and using a charm to shove unsuspecting first-years into the high piles. She was joined in her activities with Draco usually, but when he was busy with Quidditch practice (It didn't matter how much he complained, Willow always dragged him along), getting ready for the first game of the season, she and Mercedes often enjoyed this newfound hobby. She once accidentally hit Professor Flitwick with this once, sending him flying into a mountain of leaves. It was pretty funny, to be honest.

Draco was bragging to her about the first Hogsmeade visit of the year on the day of Hallowe'en and how he could go, while she couldn't. She hexed him after a while of this and made him promise to bring her back something nice, like a bar of chocolate, not like what he has jokingly gotten her in the past. It would also be one year since they became best mates, so she insisted that he bring back something meaningful and not stupid.

Today, though, Georgia headed down for breakfast in the Great Hall. She took a seat next to Draco and Daphne, who were busy reading the Daily Prophet.

"What's up this time?" Georgia asked.

"Some woman not far from here thought she saw Black, but it was just a shadow. She's being checked out in St. Mungo's now." Daphne said plainly.

"Of course. Now everyone's going insane because of him, hey?" Georgia said. Daphne grinned.

"Pretty much. Fudge has gone mad, although he doesn't want to admit it." Daphne said. Georgia nodded as she filled her plate up with bacon and eggs.

"I know. This thing has gotten pretty out of hand. I just hope that he doesn't some near Hogwarts any time soon." Georgia sighed. The three ate in silence for a few minutes until Georgia decided to speak.

"So, Draco, Daph, your Hogsmeade visit is tomorrow, right?" Georgia asked. Draco nodded.

"Yeah. It's pretty exciting. Astoria's extremely jealous of me though. She has to wait another two years until they let her go. Mother's made me promise I'll bring her something back from Honeydukes." Daphne sighed.

"Well, I hope you guys enjoy yourselves, but not too much. Don't get too crazy." She smirked. Draco finished his plate and groaned.

"Well, time for History of Magic. Maybe I could get a little bit of sleep during class. Didn't get much last night." Draco remarked.

"Why not? Up all night obsessing over your little Hogsmeade visit?" Georgia sneered. Draco rolled his eyes.

"See you, you nitwit." Draco said.

"Now, now, Mr. Malfoy. Watch your language. You wouldn't speak that way to your mother, would you?" Georgia smirked. Draco rolled his eyes again.

Georgia watched as her friends gathered their things and got up to head to class. She herself wolfed down the rest of her breakfast and got up to go to DADA class, as she had to admit; it was her favorite class (don't tell Professor Snape, though; she's been getting very good marks in Potions and doesn't want that to change.)

_Page_Break_

"So, what do you want to do today, Georgie? Pretty much everyone has gone to Hogsmeade today, so we've almost got the whole castle to ourselves. Well, us, the rest of the people in our year, the first-years, and Potter." Mercedes said.

"I don't know. Maybe go terrorize some ickle little first-years?" Georgia suggested. Mercedes shrugged.

"I'm bored."

"You couldn't've made that more obvious." Georgia sneered.

"You're not very nice."

"Hmm, what was your first clue? The fact I'm a Slytherin?"

"Shut up."

"You know, there's tons of homework we can do right now? And the Hallowe'en feast is just a couple hours away, so we can't get too caught up in something." Georgia said.

"But there's plenty of other opportunities to do homework! How often will we get the place virtually to ourselves?" Mercedes questioned.

"Fine then. But, if it'll get us in big trouble, I don't want to do it." Georgia groaned.

"Well, I- Fine."

"What were you planning?"

"Nothing!"

"Really?"

"Okay, I may or may not have wanted to try and sneak into Hogsmeade..." Mercedes grumbled.

"Typicial. Let's go outside, the weather great, and play some Exploding Snap. You have a deck, right?" Georgia asked.

"Well, yeah." Mercedes mumbled. Georgia got up off of the couch she was plopped down on in the common room and grabbed Mercedes by the arm and dragged her out of the dungeons.

They arrived at the courtyard a minute later, and sat down on the grass. The courtyard was filled with quite a few students. Georgia spotted Ginny and Luna under a tree together. She wanted to have them come over and play with them, but since they almost got caught sneaking out of the Slytherin dungeon the night that they spent in there, they've been keeping their distance from Georgia when she's with a housemate (But the nights spent between the three in the kitchens have still gone on, just not as late.).

Mercedes pulled her deck of cards out and put it down between the girls.

"Classical, Patience or Bavarian?" Mercedes asked.

"Patience." Georgia answered.

Mercedes took the pack and divided it in half, so each of them got twenty cards.

"You go first." Mercedes said. Georgia took two cards from her stack, and revealed them. A Cyclops and a Bowtruckle. No match. The cards exploded as Mercedes went to reveal her own cards. She revealed two Mountain Trolls, so Georgia quickly tapped them with her wand. One point for her.

The game carried on for quite some time, which ended up in Mercedes winning and Georgia ending up singeing the tips of her hair. The bell rang to indicate that the feast was served, as the sky grew dark and the girls were just starting a game of Bavarian Rules Snap, which was the hardest variant. The two got up, Mercedes put her cards back in her pocket, and they walked to the feast. As they entered the Great Hall, decorated with levitating jack 'o lanterns the size of a pony, Georgia saw Draco already back from Hogsmeade. She walked up to him and sat down next to him.

"How was it?"

"Pretty cool. Honeydukes was amazing, Zonko's Joke Shop wasn't too bad, and the Shrieking Shack, this old haunted building, was interesting." Draco said.

"Ah. Sounds fun. You know, I was just thinking now, about how today is one year since the Chamber of Secrets was opened. You know?" Georgia said.

"Oh, I suppose it would be, hey?" Draco said.

"I can't believe that it's been that long. But now, instead of a snake controlled by You-Know-Who trying to kill Muggle-borns, we have an estranged murderer on the loose." Georgia said.

"No kidding." Draco sighed. They ate without talking much, then the dessert came and once again, the tables filled with candies and treats. Georgia made sure no one was looking, then stuffed her pockets full. As she was doing this, she felt a tug on her arm.

"Come with me." Draco said. She stopped her candy-smuggling and followed him back to the common-room, where he had her sit down on a chair while he went to go get something from his dorm. She waited patently until he returned, carrying two brown bottles of some beverage.

"Butterbeer." He said, handing a bottle to her. She took off the lid, and joined Draco in a toast.

"To unlikely friendships." He smiled. It wasn't one of his usual smirks, it was a genuine smile.

"To unlikely friendships." She smiled back as their bottles connected, then she took a sip of the drink. It was a cool, butterscotchy drink that Georgia found herself liking a lot. The two talked while sipping their Butterbeers, until the rest of the students in their house that weren't already down there already came pouring in, followed by the prefects and Professor Snape.

"What's going on?" She asked Draco, but Professor Snape started speaking.

"It appears that the murderer Sirius Black had attempted to break into Gryffindor Tower earlier this evening. All students will be moved into the Great Hall to sleep. Be ready to go in 15 minutes. Our prefects will escort you." Snape ordered. The room suddenly broke into chaos and noise as everyone tried to understand what was going on. Georgia rushed to her dorm, slipped on her pajamas, and waited patently until the prefects took them to the Great Hall, where the five tables where gone and replaced with sleeping bags. She spotted Ginny and Luna already in sleeping bags, and, not caring about what people might think, crawled into the one right next to the two.


	23. Chapter 22

Georgia sat with Luna once again as they entered the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. They didn't try to hide their friendship, no, that was all down the drain now. After they were seen about two weeks ago now sleeping in the Great Hall together, Georgia admitted to Willow and Mercedes about her friends. Mercedes thought that it was odd that Georgia would be friends with Loony Lovegood, but thought it was no big deal. Willow said she didn't care who she was friends with, as long as they weren't on the opposing Quidditch team. The kids in their year though, thought it was the next big gossip. After Sirius Black stopped being the number one topic of conversation, they were talking about the three's unlikely friendship. She honestly didn't know why it was such a big deal, have they not noticed her relationship with Draco Malfoy?

Georgia noticed that Professor Lupin was not standing at the front of the classroom, or even a substitute, but yet the doors were opened. Georgia got out her books anyways and waited. Maybe Lupin was late? But he had never been late before. Just as she was thinking this, the doors burst open and in walked Professor Snape. He stormed through the room, closing all the windows and doors magically, and stood in front of the class.

"Professor Lupin is feeling ill today, so I will be filling in for him in the meantime. As I have no record of the topics that Professor Lupin has taught already, we shall discuss werewolves." Snape said coldly. There was a sudden murmuring throughout the students. A few raised their hands, including Georgia.

"Miss Newton?" He asked as he saw her hand go up.

"But, Professor, sir, we aren't supposed to cover werewolves just yet. We've done Banshees, Trolls, and Ghouls, and we're working on Vam-" Georgia found herself saying.

"That is enough, Miss Newton. I will not have any of my Slytherins turning into know-it-all's like Miss Granger. As much as I hate to, I will take five points from Slytherin to make sure that never happens again, Miss Newton." Snape sneered.

"Yes, sir." Georgia mumbled as she felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. She was not a know-it-all. Sure, she had good marks in Potions, DADA, and Charms. Her Transfiguration marks could be better, but she wasn't disappointed. But her Herbology, History of Magic, and Astronomy marks were horrid. A know-it-all would have outstanding marks in everything. She, Georgia Newton, was the farthest thing from a know-it-all that she knew. Well, not really, but you get the point.

"Good. I want you all to turn to page 394 in your textbook. All of you! Now!" Snape shouted. The class hesitantly opened their books. This was going to be an interesting lesson. And not in a way that involves the subject material.

_Page_Break_

Georgia joined Draco in the common room after dinner. Georgia was still pretty mad at him because due to his whining and crying, he got Slytherin out of laying the first Quidditch game of the year against Gryffindor, but kept her anger at him to herself. Tomorrow Gryffindor would play Hufflepuff instead. The only person who was madder than Georgia, was Willow. Willow was livid when she heard the news. She'd been avoiding Draco since.

"Did you get Snape too for Defence Against the Dark Arts?" Georgia asked.

"Yep. It was brilliant. Snape called that filthy mud- er, I'm sorry Georgia, Granger, and I quote, an 'insufferable know-it-all.'" Draco smirked. Georgia frowned.

"Your DADA class was before mine, correct?" Georgia asked.

"Yes, why?" Draco questioned.

"I found myself correcting Snape this morning, about the lesson plan, don't ask me why, and he took away five points and told me he would not have me becoming a know-it-all, like Granger." Georgia said.

"Well, are you a know-it-all?" Draco asked sarcastically

"No! Well, I'm sure-"

"You're sure... Yeah, right..."

"Shut up, Malfoy."

"Really, Newton? What would your-"

"Says the boy who got his team out of possibly the biggest Quidditch game of the year because he's a wimp." Georgia scoffed.

"That's not nice."

"You're not nice, yet I deal with you every day."

"You don't have to. You could just hang out with Loony and Weaselette all day, you know." Draco said.

"But what's the thrill of that? Don't forget my blood status." Georgia smirked.

"Oh, right. Some days I forget." Draco sniggered.

"I guess I am turning out to be a true Slytherin, hey?" Georgia grinned.

_Page_break_

"You wouldn't believe what happened!" Draco exclaimed happily as he sat beside Georgia at dinner.

"What? Who won?" Georgia asked. The Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff took place that day, but it was raining so bad that Georgia decided to stay in and do homework.

"Oh, Hufflepuff won, what a relief that was. Well, the weather sucked, some Dementors arrived, and the best part was that Potter fell off his broom! It was hilarious." Not long after Draco said this he was met with a book to the side of the face. Hard.

"People getting hurt is not funny, Malfoy! Neither is-"

"Shut it Newton. If it was me, you'd be laughing your arse off." Draco groaned. Georgia paused, then smirked.

"You know me too well."

"Of course I do. It's my business." Draco sneered. Georgia picked up a copy of the Evening Prophet, scanning the front page.

"Still haven't found Black. Can't believe it." Georgia said. Draco nodded. Georgia put the paper down and turned to the puzzle page, getting out her quill to do the word search that constantly shuffled the letters while she ate pudding. She didn't even notice Draco staring at her fondly.

_Page_Break_

Don't get him wrong, Draco's never felt anything but friendly emotions towards his best friend.

Merlin, he never thought a year ago they'd be at this point.

He loves her. As a friend. He never loved anyone except his mother and father before.

Until Georgia barged her way in.

At first, he thought she was annoying. Then he thought she was crazy. He warmed up to her, though, and the rest is history.

He knew he loved her as a friend the moment he found she had been taken into the Chamber. He knew he had to get her out. He's gained a soft spot for her.

She's determined, ambititious, cunning, and resourceful. All Slytherin traits. She has many non-Slytherin quallities too. Fearlessness, abilty to see the good in people, tolerance, wisdom, among others. She has her flaws as well. She's sarcastic, stubborn, absent-minded, she can be quite mean when she wants to be, and hinds her emotions that show weakness too much. He still loves her though.

He's always thought of her as a friend, and nothing more. Never anything more. He's never even considered what could happen in the future with them. He hopes they stay friends for a long time.

Merlin, if his parents found out, he'd be skinned alive. He's always been taught about how Mudbloods and Muggles are scum and don't deserve to walk on this earth, blah blah blah. Newton has help him change his views on them. He still can't stand Granger, and will keep calling her Mudblood, sure, but anyone else would never heard that word come from his mouth.

Ever.


	24. Chapter 23

Winter fell quite fast around Hogwarts. Not too long after the first Quidditch match of the year, the snow started to fall. It was now December, the last weekend before hollidays, and the third-years and up were back in Hogsmeade for the last visit of 1993. Georgia, Ginny and Luna were hanging out in the courtyard, sitting on the ground, Ginny using her covered finger to trace her name in the snow, Luna reading The Quibbler as usual, and Georgia making snowballs and bewitching them to fly towards first-years and hit them in the face. The sun was starting to set, and although it was only four in the afternoon, as it was winter, it was perfectly normal. The trio had already been ice skating, sledding, and built snow creatures (Ginny did an very impressive snow-gargoyle).

"Oh, sorry, Astoria!" Georgia shouted as one of her snowballs hit her fellow Slytherin in the face and she gave Georgia a icy glare that Georgia thought looked extremely similar to her older sister's.

"We should do something else. I'm getting cold." Ginny said, pulling her Gryffindor scarf farther up her face.

"Dinner will be soon, so we can't get too crazy. Let's go visit Hagrid, I'm sure he could use the company." Georgia said. Ginny nodded, then they looked to Luna.

"Are you going to come with us, Luna?" Ginny asked. Luna looked up from her magazine, stared at Ginny for a few moments, then spoke.

"Oh! No thank you, I'm reading a very interesting article on Umgubular Slashkilters. If you don't mind, I'll take my reading inside." Luna said softly. Ginny and Georgia exchanged bewildered looks, then started hiking through the snow to Hagrid's hut. When they reached the little hut, Georgia pounded on the door. She heard the loud, booming barks of Fang and the voice of Hagrid shout, "Comin'!" and the door open. Hagrid was standing at the door, trying to hold Fang back by the collar. His eyes lit up when he saw the two and accidentally let go of Fang, who jumped up onto Georgia and started licking her ears.

"Hullo Georgia, Ginny. Wasn' expectin' yer. A nice surprise." Hagrid smiled as he opened the door wider to let them in, but there was a hint of sadness in his voice.

"What's wrong, Hagrid?" Ginny asked as the girls sat down at his table.

"Wha'? Oh, ther's nutin' wrong, I'm fine, everythin's all righ." Hagrid said, handing them rock cakes and a cup of tea each. Georgia attempted to take a bite of one of her cakes, and almost chipped a tooth. She then tried dunking the cake in her tea to soften it, but the cake wouldn't fit in her cup. Oh well, she'd just have to pretend she was eating it.

"It sounds like something's wrong." Ginny replied. Hagrid sighed, but refused to speak. Georgia knew what was wrong. He was still upset about the Hippogriff, and how he was no longer allowed to use him in lessons.

"'Nough 'bout me, how's school goin'?" Hagrid asked.

"For me, it's fine, I guess. I've got extremely horrible marks in History of Magic, Herbology, and Astromomy, but everything else is decent, if not really good." Georgia said.

"I'm doing okay." Ginny stated plainly. There was an awkward silence around the room, before Hagrid spontaneously burst into tears. The two stared at him in shock for a moment, then at each other, then rushed to his side to attempt to comfort him.

"Come on, Hagrid. Tell us what's wrong." Georgia said, rubbing the half-giant's back comfortingly.

"Ther' reviewin' the inciden' with Buckbeak that happen'd earlier this ye'r, the Ministry. I don' think I'll have the teaching position af'ter they finish, but if I do, ther' probably gonna do somethin' to Beaky." Hagrid sobbed.

"Don't say that, Hagrid! Dumbledore will make sure none of that happens." Georgia said.

"It's ol' Lucius Malfoy that's makin' dem do this whole thing. He'll scare 'um into things. Ther's no way me or Beaky's gettin' out of this scot-free." Hagrid cried. Georgia tensed.

"Of course. Sorry Hagrid, would stay longer, but I've got to go chew someone certain a new one." Georgia fumed, stomping over to the door and storming out. She walked as fast as she could back up to the castle, where she saw the older students returning from Hogsmeade. She spotted exactly who she was looking for, and stormed over to him.

_Page_break_

Georgia stepped back onto the Hogwarts Express, ready to go home once again. She wasn't going to lie, she missed her home, her best mate from home, and her family. Following her onto the train was Draco Malfoy, long-since healed arm wrapped in bandages, burn marks to the face that Madam Pomfrey was having a heck of a time removing, antler stubs threatening to grow back, and boils that were now fading.

Yes, the majority of those injuries were caused by Georgia.

Georgia grabbed Draco's arm (yes, the one in bandages) as he pretended to wince and dragged him into an empty compartment. The two sat opposite to each other.

"What's this? A compartment all to ourselves?" Draco smirked. Georgia rolled her eyes.

"I can easily drop you off at the compartment where Senseless Sammie's talking the ears off of a group of third and forth-years that can't escape. I hear there is no escape with her." Georgia smiled innocently. It was now Draco's turn to roll his eyes.

"Time to go home now. Two weeks of freedom." Georgia sighed. Draco nodded. Georgia got out her pillow and sprawled across her row of seats in the compartment.

"May I ask what in Merlin's name are you doing, Newton?" Draco asked, staring down at her.

"What does it look like?" She snapped.

"Why are you going to sleep now when you have all break to do that?" Draco questioned.

"Clearly you haven't met Josie before. She's a party animal, although she wears makeup and always is wearing something fashionable. Plus, he birthday was earlier this month, so she's gonna bug me for not being there although she knows there's not possible way I could go and make me celebrate it with her over the break. I must be fully rested and prepared." Georgia said plainly.

"Oh Merlin, you're impossible." Draco said, shaking his head in dismay.

"I know. Now will you shut up and let me sleep, or will I have to lock you in Sammie's insane asylum?" Georgia sneered. Draco shut up immediately.

_Page_break_

A few hours later, Draco was pushing Georgia awake.

"Wha-?" Georgia said groggily.

"We're here, you nitwit. Now come on, or else you'll get stuck on the train for the rest of break." Draco smirked. Georgia got up and shoved him playfully into the next compartment over, where a seventh-year couple were having a very heated goodbye kiss.

"Oof, er- sorry! Carry on!" Draco said as he stumbled out of that compartment, closing the door behind him. "I really hate you, Newton."

"I know." Georgia smiled as they exited the train. She scanned around for her parents until she remembered that they would wait at the other side for her with Josie, like always.

"I see my mother and father. Wish me luck." Draco sighed. Georgia patted him on the back.

"You can do this. It can't be very hard, if your parents are anything like you." Georgia smirked. "Happy Christmas, Draco."

"Merry Christmas." Draco smiled one of his rare genuine smiles and the two leaned in for a hug, but stopped awkwardly halfway. They both blushed and decided to just finish the hug, but much more awkwardly as usual. She waved goodbye to him and ran back through the wall, back to the Muggle world, back home.


	25. Chapter 24

Georgia slipped into the first compartment that she saw was unoccupied. Yawning, she sprawled out once again on the seats with her pillow. The last two weeks were the best she's ever had, but at the same time extremely tiring. Josie made her stay up all night watching movies, playing video games on Josie's SNES, and catching up with things in the Muggle world. They owned the streets once more and did everything that they always loved to do with each other before Georgia went to Hogwarts. It was sad parting once again with her best friend, almost as sad as it was with her mum and dad, but Georgia was glad to be headed back to school with her friends.

She just settled down for a nap when the compartment door opened and Draco helped himself to a seat across from her. He smirked at the sight of her.

"Must've been an exciting break, hey?" He sneered. Georgia looked up at him and scowled.

"Better than yours, for sure." Georgia leered back at him.

"It probably was. Summers's been owling me every day to make sure I'm still training. She may as well become captain, she's so passionate about the team." Draco sighed.

"Really? I knew Willow was hardcore, but I didn't think that much..." Georgia said.

"During season, she made Flint book practices at least three times a week although our first game isn't until later this month. She's really into it. Usually she's a decent kid with her Muggle makeup, but when she's on the pitch, it's like some of her feisty Latina genes that we know she has, she's doesn't talk about it but it's almost obvious, suddenly popped out of the pits of hell, she's that mean." Draco shuddered.

"Wow. Sounds rough." Georgia said.

"It is, but I'd be lying if I said she wasn't good. She's brilliant! The best our team's had in a while. My father bought her a Nimbus 2001, like the rest of the team has, and she's practically lightning on it. I'm pretty confident that we will win the cup this year." Draco said cooly.

"Don't get too cocky. You know what happened last time that happened. You got babbling to Potter and missed the Snitch when it was right by your ear." Georgia said, think back to the memorable match last year.

"Go to sleep, Newton. I don't need you to burst my bubble. I've got Summers to do that for me." Draco sneered. Georgia happily obliged.

_Page_Break_

"It's good to be back." Georgia sighed as she entered the common room for the first time in two weeks. They were almost halfway through the school year already, which was hard to believe. It seems like yesterday that she entered the common room after holidays last year. She plopped down on one of the couches, letting Chaton out of her crate, who cuddled right up to her owner. Georgia pet her cat as she saw Willow storm out of their dormitory, dressed in her Quidditch attire.

"Where's Malfoy, Newton?" Willow asked. Georgia shrugged.

"Damn. I talked Flint into an emergency practice tonight, because our first game's next week. I need to let Malfoy know. You sure you haven't seen him?" Willow said.

"Not since we arrived back. Also my Christmas break was lovely, thanks for asking." Georgia smirked. Willow flushed in embarrassment.

"Sorry about that. I'll go look for him. You should come and watch, you know." Willow said.

"Nah, I'm going to wait for game day, then I won't spoil the surprise." Georgia winked. Willow rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right. I'll be headed out now. See you later, Georgia." Willow said as she walked out. Georgia sat and pet her cat as she read a book by the fire. Pretty soon, she heard the bell ring, signaling dinner time. She walked out of the common room, up the stairs, and into the Great Hall, where she saw Mercedes sitting by herself.

"Hi Sadie. Where's Willow?" Georgia asked as she sat down next to her.

"Off with the Quidditch team, over there." Mercedes said, motioning off to the far end of the table, where Willow was with Draco and the rest of the team, probably discussing practice while they grabbed a bite to eat before heading out.

"Oh, well, you don't mind that she..."

"Not at all. Our friendship is back to normal, except her constant practicing. I don't really mind, though." Mercedes shrugged.

"Well, anyways, how was your holiday? You went home, correct?" Georgia questioned.

"Yep. We spent it mostly at home, except for when we visited my Gran and Grandpa from my dad's side, as I've never even met my mum's parents before, in Denmark. Lovely place. They're not from there, no, they moved there after retiring. I'm not sure what they did in the Muggle world, but it made them pretty rich." Mercedes spoke.

"Sounds lovely." Georgia said.

"It was. How was yours?" Mercedes asked.

"Good. Stayed up all night long almost every night. I slept the whole way here." Georgia sighed sleepily.

"Sounds like you had fun." Mercedes giggled "Obviously the whole train ride wasn't enough."

The two chatted for a bit until Draco broke apart from the team and stormed over to them, scowling.

"You'll never believe this madness. Montague says that Potty's got himself a Firebolt for Christmas." Draco scoffed.

"Firebolt? Isn't that the new broom that costs an arm, a leg, a kidney, and your entire life savings?" Georgia asked.

"Yes. I'm going to be no match against him. But luckily, they're suspecting that Sirius Black sent it to him. They've confiscated it and are checking it for curses as we speak. There's a rather high chance that it could be jinxed, so he might just have to play with a old school broom for the rest of the season." Draco said hopefully.

"If it's that bad, why don't you get your father to buy you one, Malfoy?" Mercedes asked. Draco glared at her. Mercedes shut up.

"Oh great. Summers is telling me to come back. See you later." Draco groaned.

"Good luck." Mercedes shouted.

"He'll need more than luck to deal with Willow. He says that she's pretty much their coach. Bossing them around, yelling, the whole bit. He says she's really into it. Might as well make her captain." Georgia grinned. Mercedes chuckled.

_Page_Break_

"How was practice?" Georgia asked Draco the next morning.

"Actually okay. Summers didn't yell or anything. She was surprisingly calm. Didn't raise her voice, even when Derrick was flailing his bat around like an idiot and hit Bletchley in the mouth." Draco sighed.

"That's good." Georgia smiled.

"Annnd now you've jinxed it. She's on her way over here right now." Draco groaned.

"Hey, Malfoy, can we have a little chat about the match against Ravenclaw? Just the two of us?" Willow asked. Draco groaned.

"Fine."

"Okay, so, I watched the Hufflepuff- Ravenclaw match last month, studying plays and such. Thought you outta know this before next week's match." Willow started, then paused to get the approval to carry on.

"Go on." Draco groaned.

"So, first things first. Chang, Forth-year, Ravenclaw's seeker. She's only got a Comet Sixty-Two, as I've heard. But, to be honest, you might have some competition. Chang's pretty good. So, what you want to do, if you and Chang get head-to-head, is the move we talked about last night, you know..." Willow continued, but at this point, Georgia wasn't listening, She finished her breakfast as Willow talked to Draco about how they might need to knock Chang out with a Bludger if things got too close, and got up to head to Defence Against the Dark Arts. She looked back and shot Draco a look of about half-genuine pity, which was met with a "please-save-me" look.

Unfortunately, Georgia wasn't in the mood to peel Summers off of him.


	26. Chapter 25

"Has the game started yet?" Georgia asked as she slipped beside Mercedes on the Slytherin side of the stands. It was the day of Slytherin's first Quidditch match. Georgia felt slightly bad about cheering against Ravenclaw, whom Luna was proudly supporting while wearing a hat with a giant eagle perched on top.

"No. I'm so excited to see Willow play." Mercedes exclaimed, smiling like a little kid. Georgia looked eagerly around the pitch, searching for her friends. She saw Willow leading the whole Slytherin team in a very vigorous warm-up. She giggled to herself.

She soon saw Willow leading the team in a fast jog all the way around the pitch, for about ten laps straight, until Willow herself looked exhausted. Then, she guided them through a series of complicated stretches. Finally, she let them get on their brooms and warm their flying up.

"Why do they even listen to her? She's the youngest on the team, anyways. They normally wouldn't obey her like that." Georgia questioned.

"Because they know she knows what's best for the team. If we want to win the cup this year, they know to listen to her, although she's meaner than a Hungarian Horntail." Mercedes said. Georgia watched as the Ravenclaw team exited their locker room and got on their brooms, not even bothering to stretch.

"Also I think she's being a show-off. Her whole family is there, her mum, dad, little brother, grandparents, everyone in the family." Mercedes told her.

"Wait, Willow has a brother?" Georgia exclaimed.

"Yeah. She doesn't really talk about her family. She's slightly embarrassed by her family's ancestry. Here, her family is excepted pretty well, except some of the really big pureblooded families. But in Mexico, where her paternal grandmother is from, her gran's maiden name is looked upon with disgust. The Jaimez family were not only rich, but liars and cheaters and gave themselves a bad name. Her grandmother got sick of the mistreatment that she got at school because of her last name, and the way her parents treated her and the people around her, and left to England. That's when she married her grandfather and took the Summers name, which originated in America but migrated to England and has a family trend of getting Sorted into Slytherin. Her mother comes from the blood-traitor Argentinian family of Lacayo, which doesn't go by with many pureblood families. I don't know why Willow is ashamed of this, I guess she's afraid of being bullied for being descended from the Jaimez family, like her gran was." Mercedes explained.

"And she told you all this?" Georgia asked, astonished.

"Yes. Her brother's name is Luciano, by the way. He's eight. She has an English name as a statement of moving on from the Jaimez name, and her brother was named after her maternal grandfather, Luciano Lacayo." Sadie said.

"Wow, I can't believe she would tell you all that." Georgia said, dumbfounded.

"I know. It happened sometime last year. We just started talking, and soon we're bawling our eyes out with each other, pitying one another's ancestries. My mum's a disgrace, she comes from an disgraced family, I guess that's how we bonded. We're two misfits." Mercedes smiled.

"Is that why you pretty much welcomed me with open arms last year? You didn't even care about my blood status." Georgia asked. Mercedes nodded.

"Wow... I.. I didn't know." Georgia sighed. The two were silent as Georgia processed what Sadie had told her.

"Oooh, look. Hooch is coming out. Game's about to start. Pre-game snack time!" Mercedes exclaimed suddenly, pulling up another parcel from her mum and handing Georgia some Drooble's Best Blowing Gum and a package of Cauldron Cakes.

Madam Hooch headed out to the pitch and blew her whistle, signaling the players to come down. After everyone was there, Hooch made Flint and Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw captain, shake hands, although Georgia was sure Flint was trying to squish Davies' fingers off. The players mounted their brooms, then Madam Hooch blew the whistle again, and the players rose into the air. The game had started.

"And the game has started! Montague of Slytherin starts with the Quaffle, headed towards the Ravenclaw end, Burrow of Ravenclaw steals the Quaffle right off of him. He's approaching the Slytherin goal, he shoots- saved by Bletchley!"a male voice spread across the pitch. Georgia knew it belonged to the Ravenclaw commenator, she didn't know who he was, though.

Georgia watched with awe as Willow flew around on her broom, swerving around players to try and get the Quaffle from Davies, narrowly missing a Bludger hit by her own teammate, Bole. Georgia knew he was going to get it after the game. Her eyes were now on Draco, who was flying around, eyes open looking for the Snitch. She saw Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker two years ahead of her, doing the same as Draco, except flying much more slowly, as she heard Chang had a much slower broom than any of the Slytherins. Her attention was brought back to the rest of the game when she heard Willow's name being shouted by the commentator.

"And it's Willow Summers, Slytherin's most recent addition, and might I add, the first female on their team in almost ten years- yes, sorry Professor, she may only be in second year, but blimey, can that girl fly! Like Slytherin or not, you can't deny her talent. She's approaching the Ravenclaw goal; Oooh! Just dodged that Bludger! She's coming in, she shoots, she scores! Ten-nil, Slytherin! Burrow picks up the Quaffle, passes it to teammate Stretton, intercepted by Flint, passes it to Summers, and there she goes again! Twenty-nil. Davies picks it up, takes it, passes to Burrow, Burrow dodges a Bludger hit by Derrick, and gets past Bletchley! Twenty-ten."

Georgia and Mercedes cheered loudly as their friend scored. Georgia soon returned her attention to Draco, who has not yet spotted the Snitch, but luckily, unlike last year, isn't interested in trash-talking Chang and missing the Snitch when it was right by his ear. Lessons learnt.

When Georgia returns her attention to the game, the score's now fifty-ten. Willow scored one more, and Flint scored two. Not too bad for her first game.

"I can't believe how good she is!" Mercedes said giddily.

"If only you could play with her." Georgia smirked. Mercedes fake-slapped her.

"Just because I suck at flying doesn't mean I don't enjoy Quidditch, Newton." Sadie said glaringly. "Just how good are you at flying, again?"

"Better than you." Georgia said.

"Shove it." Mercedes snapped. Georgia returned to the game, but then started to stare off into space, not really paying any attention as she chewed on a piece of Drooble's.

"Georgie? Hellllooooooooo?" Mercedes waved her hand in front of Georgia's face, returning to reality.

"Stop daydreaming. The Snitch has been spotted. Also we're leading one-hundred-and-thirty to seventy." Mercedes said. Georgia saw Draco and Chang now in a race for the Golden Snitch, which was flying all around the pitch, and made its way into the rest of the game. Draco nearly hit Willow and almost ran into Montague, but escaped the chaos without a scratch. He and Chang kept racing around for the Snitch as Georgia saw Willow score once more out of the corner of her eye.

"One-hundred-and-forty to ninety now. That's ten goals for Willow!" Mercedes squealed. She took her concentration back to the Seekers, who were now neck-and-neck for the Snitch. Draco reached and it brushed his fingertips. He then pushed himself forward on his broom and reached again, this time grasping the Snitch in his hand. Georgia and Sadie rose up from their seats and yelled. They won!

The two packed up their things and rushed down to greet the team. The team was currently hoisting Willow upon their shoulders and chanting her name. She saw the two and smiled.

"Sadie! Georgia! I'm so glad you came to watch! Party in the common room tonight! Let me down, guys. I need to go greet my family. I SAID LET ME DOWN!" Willow screamed. The team obliged, and Willow ran off to somewhere in the stands. Georgia found and wrapped her arms around Draco.

"Great game." Georgia smiled at her best mate.

"Every game we win is a great game." He smirked. She rolled her eyes.

"Go get cleaned up. I have the feeling me and Sadie'll have to to go and smuggle food from the kitchens for this party." Georgia sighed as she patted Draco on the back.

"Okay then. Have fun." Draco sneered.

"Yeah, right. Fun." Georgia laughed.


	27. Chapter 26

"I hate History of Magic. Can you do my homework for me instead?" Georgia moaned.

"I know you hate that subject, but I'm not going to do it for you. Excuse me, I'm going to find Willow." Mercedes said in a huff and got up and left the library. Georgia knew that since it was March already, Sadie was getting stressed about her horrible marks in just about everything. Georgia sighed and returned to her homework, but only got a small bit done before groaning sadly and getting up from her seat to stretch. With exams coming up, the homework had just been piling. Georgia decided that she just might need a break and put her stuff back in her school bag. She was thinking about maybe relaxing by the fire with a cup of tea, a word puzzle book, and her cat as she left the library.

She was halfway to the common room when she remembered that Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were playing each other that day, and decided to go see how the game was doing. She hiked down to the Quidditch pitch, and found a seat in the stands next to Luna, who was wearing her eagle hat once more.

"How's the game doing, Luna?" Georgia asked. Luna turned towards Georgia.

"Oh, hello, Georgia. Lovely weather today. Perfect conditions for Gulping Plimpies to be spotted. I would be looking, but they can sense you coming, so you just have to keep an eye out in the distance. If you plan on getting close, take Gurdyroots with you. They will attack you if you get too close, but the smell of the roots repels them." Luna said, then stared off for a moment.

"Oh! You asked about the game. Gryffindor's leading eighty to thirty." Luna said. Georgia nodded and turned her attention towards the game. Potter and Chang were head-to-head in chasing the Snitch. Potter took the lead and just as his fingers started to touch the Snitch, Chang let out a very loud, high-pitched scream. Everyone stopped flying to see what the fuss was about and looked where Chang was pointing in fear. Three tall, hooded Dementors stood in the stands nearby. Georgia froze in fear, trying to bear herself for the feeling of them sucking the happiness out of her, but was bewildered when they didn't.

It only took a split second for Georgia to realize that those were not Dementors, another second later until Potter waved his wand and a sliver mist burst out from the tip. Georgia watched amazed as what looked like a stag formed from the mist and charged straight for the three hooded figures. There was a loud shriek as the figures toppled down at the sight of the stag. As the mist disappeared, Georgia stopped staring and noticed loud cheering. She looked and saw Potter holding the Snitch victoriously as the Gruffindors ran out to the field in celebration. He must've caught it when everyone was mesmerized by the silvery thing coming from his wand. Georgia sighed, as she knew that because Gryffindor won, they had a shot of making it to the Quidditch final.

She decided to get up and get a look at who the culprits were that dressed as Dementors. She walked down to where she saw them and started laughing out loud when she saw Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, and Flint all tangled in robes on the ground. Professor McGonagall stormed over to them, fuming and shouting at them. Georgia couldn't help but start thinking about the fact that that was a very Malfoy thing to do, and started wondering where Draco was during all this. She didn't have to wonder much, as she saw him come behind her, laughing as hard as she was.

"How come you weren't with them?" She asked. Draco shrugged.

"It was Flint's idea. He told me about it and wanted me to take part, but I told him I've already got hexed enough by you this year." He smirked. She playfully punched him in the arm.

"I see my lessons are starting to pay off." she sneered.

"You're impossible."

"But you love me."

"Maybe"

_Page_Break_

Georgia decided the rest of her evening would be spent doing what she longed for all day: curling up with a good book.

So, she did just that, for about an hour until she got to a boring part in her book and decided to call it a night, although it was only seven o' clock.

She walked into her dormitory, and started undressing when she saw a letter on her bedside table she was meaning to send off to Josie, on top of her journal, which she hadn't had the time to write in recently. She threw back on the few articles of clothing she had took off, grabbed the letter, and started making her way to the Owlery. When she got there, she signaled her favorite owl, a brown barn owl named Erwin, and tied the letter to his leg. As Erwin flew off with the letter, Georgia started walking back, looking at the lovely sunset as she passed. She stopped to stare at it as she suddenly remembered another thing.

She had to meet Luna and Ginny in the kitchens.

An hour ago.

As soon as she thought this, she took off in a sprint all the way down to the hallway in the basement, over to the painting of a bowl of fruit, tickled the pear, grabbed the door handle and burst in, making all the house elves in the room she entered jump, then bombard her with food. She ran over to the seating area, where a rather angered Ginny sat while Luna dazedly ate a biscuit, not even acknowledging Georgia.

"Where have you been?!" Ginny whisper-yelled quite angrily.

"Sorry, I totally forgot." Georgia sighed.

"How could you forget?" Ginny said.

"Well, I was reading after dinner in my common room because it's March already and the homework is getting more and more piled up and I needed a break. I may have lost track of time." Georgia admitted. Ginny sighed.

"There's nothing we could do about it now. We can't spend much more time here, anyways." Ginny said as she grabbed a biscuit from a passing-by elf.

The three talked for about an hour about everything. School, life out of school, even Ginny started confessing a little bit on her crush on Potter (Which is another story for another time). When the time came to leave, the three parted to their own common rooms.

_Page-Break_

Georgia woke up in the middle of the night to someone pushing her awake. She groaned and her natural instinct was to punch whoever it was in the face, but she resisted the urge this time around.

"Georgie, come on! Get up!" The panic-stricken voice of Mercedes spoke, then stopped abruptly.

"Willow, take over. I think I'm going to be sick..." Footsteps ran towards the bathroom, and the sound of the door shutting alerted Georgia to the fact that whatever the reason she was woken up for, it has to be serious enough to make Sadie sick.

"What's wrong?" Georgia asked.

"The prefects came to wake us up, but you're a really heavy sleeper. They told us the Black had broke into Gryffindor Tower, and was tearing up the curtains of Ronald Weasley's bed with a knife. They're searching the castle now, but they told us that it wouldn't be necessary to sleep in the Great Hall like last time, but none of us can sleep now. Mercedes and me thought you would want to know." Willow said.

It was going to be a long night.


	28. Chapter 27

The past two months passed by in a flash of Georgia, who was now thirteen years of age.

First, the castle was searched thoroughly but to no prevail. Black had escaped the clutches of the Ministry once more.

Second, Slytherin absolutely slaughtered Diggory and his Hufflepuffs in a match in April, 310 to 60, earning them enough points to take the lead in the championship with exactly 200 points above Gryffindor, who were in second, and a free ticket to the Quidditch Final.

Third, Georgia felt like she spent most of her time recently at Hagrid's hut, comforting the often-sobbing half-giant after she found out that Buckbeak had lost his trial and was to be executed. She tried her hardest to reassure Hagrid, but she would still end up leaving the poor bloke in tears.

Forth, she had to deal with Malfoy's whining after Granger slapped him in the face. Georgia didn't witness it, but she went to thank Granger afterwards for knocking some sense into him so she didn't have to, as now he was rather afraid of Granger.

Today was the first Saturday since Easter Break, and the day of the Quidditch Final. Georgia, with Mercedes and Daphne, made her way down to the pitch, through the crowds of students coming to watch the game. The majority were wearing Gryffindor colors of red and gold. Georgia sighed as she stared down at herself, school uniform on while wearing extra green and silver items on her, like her headband, and holding a large Slytherin flag. Supporting the minority felt strange, to say the least.

The trio found seats with the rest of the Slytherins, who were a small speck of green in a sea of red, but nonetheless extremely passionate and proud. At that moment, she though that she'd never been more proud the be a Slytherin. Mercedes got the pre-game snacks out and passed them out not only to Georgia and Daphne, but to most of the green and silver supporters. Soon, Georgia found herself conversing with people she'd never even met before like they were old friends. Nott took up the vacant seat beside her, and starting talking to the three as if they were good friends, and a few forth-years were chatting up Mercedes. Most of the purebloods even treated Georgia like she was not a Muggle-born. It reminded Georgia of a weird family reunion. A big family coming together over sports.

Sounds strange, but that's exactly what it was like.

The crown rose to life as the game started. Georgia and the Slytherins cheered as Willow started off with the Quaffle. She sped up and towards the Gryffindor posts, but Bell from Gryffindor stole it off of her, who passed it to Johnson, who went on to score the first goal of the game. Everyone except the Slytherins cheered loudly. Georgia watched in horror as Flint deliberately crashed his broom into Johnson, nearly sending her flying off her broom. That was met by the crowd's (omit Slytherin's, except a few.) anger, Willow shouting furiously at Flint, and one of the Weasley twins throwing their bat at Flint.

"Flint's such an bigot! He should know not to play dirty if you want to win!" Mercedes shouted angrily.

Luckily, both teams took penalties. Spinnet scored against Blechley and Montague's shot was saved by Wood. The whistle was blown again, and Willow took the Quaffle again, scoring for Slytherin. Georgia and the rest of the Slytherins cheered and chanted Willow's name. Georgia waved her flag happily. Willow scored once more before Gryffindor got the Quaffle back. Bell took it down to the Slytherin goal, and was about to score when Montague took hold of her head.

This was met with even more uproar, especially from Willow, who Georgia swore she could hear her angry yelling from where she sat in the stands. Gryffindor scored on their penalty shot. Flint took the Quaffle, dodged a Bludger, and raced towards the Gryffindor goal, but Spinnet stole it off of him. Once again, Slytherin got themselves another penalty because Bole hit Spinnet with his bat, but the other Weasley twin elbowed him in the face, earning Slytherin a shot. Flint took the shot and missed and Gryffindor scored.

Bell took possession and scored for Gryffindor, making the score 50-20. Willow went to score again and Spinnet scored for Gryffindor, and just as Montague looked as if he were to shove Spinnet off of her broom, Flint called a timeout, more than likely forced to by Willow, and the team flew down to the ground. Georgia saw Willow shouting at them fiercely, so loudly that Georgia could hear her.

"YOU PATHETIC IDIOTS! YOU KNOW THAT BY PLAYING DIRTY, WE WON'T WIN! IF ANY ONE OF YOU DARES TO COST US ANOTHER PENALTY, I WILL PERSONALLY MAKE YOU REGRET IT SO MUCH THAT YOU'LL BE WISHING FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR TO END SO YOU CAN ESCAPE, BUT WHEN YOU COME BACK NEXT YEAR, I'LL BE WAITING TO GIVE YOU HELL FROM THEN ON UNTIL YOU GRADUATE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Georgia heard Willow shout across the pitch. By the end of her yelling, all her teammates were looking shamefully and fearfully at the ground. They slowly nodded yes and after a bit more yelling for extra measure, the team got back on their brooms, and the game restarted.

Johnson took possession and scored, which was followed by a goal from Flint. Two more goals from Gryffindor now gave Gryffindor a chance of winning.

Georgia directed her attention to Draco and Potter, who had now caught sight of the Snitch. The two raced around, trying to knock each other of their brooms, in the meantime Gryffindor scored again and Draco got slightly distracted by the load roaring of the crowd, giving Potter the perfect opportunity to catch the Snitch. But of course, Draco, being the git he was, grabbed the tail of Potter's Firebolt, slowing them both down and allowing the Snitch to escape. Willow saw this and looked as if she were to explode.

Most of the crowd was in uproar once again, and Madam Hooch awarded Gryffindor once again another penalty, which Spinnet took and missed the goal by quit a bit, obviously as angry as everyone else, including Georgia (Draco was in for it after the game).

The game continued and as Johnson grabbed the Quaffle and flew to the Slytherin goal, scoring, Draco and Potter were once more in a heavy pursuit of the Snitch. Georgia's eyes were locked on them as Willow scored again, but Spinnet answered that goal. The two Seekers raced around, the Snitch just barely out of their reach. As Georgia saw that, she knew that Gryffindor had won. There was no way anyone could beat Potter's Firebolt. Georgia watched in amazment as Potter let go of his broom, took both hands, reached for the Snitch, then held it victoriously above his head and flew down to the ground as his teammates surrounded him, jumping up and down in excitement. Georgia saw the Slytherins fly down to the ground. Draco took his broom and spiked it into the ground in frustration.

Half the school ran down to the pitch and hoisted Potter on their shoulders. Georgia sighed, grabbed her things, and considered going down and congratulating the Slytherin team on a game well played, but decided against it due to the fact that they kept cheating. She'll congratulate Willow herself later, as she supposed it would be best for Willow to tear off the team's skins uninterrupted.

She and Mercedes started hiking up the path to the castle, looking back a little sadly at the celebrating Gryffindors.

They'll get them next year.


	29. Chapter 28

"I can't believe Black got away again!" Willow exclaimed, holding the Daily Prophet.

"He must be one smooth criminal, to escape the Ministry's clutches so many times." Mercedes said.

"I know, but they actually had him in custody. In. Custody. And he still managed to escape. It's unbelievable." Willow grumbled.

Apparently last night, Sirius Black was caught heading back into the castle by Snape, after Black had lured and tried to kill Potter and his friends, but escaped, but the Dementors nearby caught him, and Snape brought him back to the castle, locked hm up, and informed Ministry officials, who were there in a matter of minutes. When they got to where Snape had locked up Black, the door was wide open, and Black was gone. Georgia heard about this all around school that morning before heading to breakfast. When she got to Mercedes and Willow, they were both reading the front page with hungry eyes.

She also heard about the fit Fudge had, but would prefer not to think about it.

"Fudge is furious. It says here that he blew up at the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, trashed his office, and almost killed all the Aurors." Mercedes said.

And she was now thinking about it. Lovely.

And also she heard that Buckbeak had somehow escaped and wasn't executed. Hagrid must be overjoyed. She decided she'll go pay him a visit later.

"Hey, did you guys hear about Black?" She heard Draco ask from behind her.

"No. What happened?" Georgia sneered sarcastically.

"Is that a question, Malfoy?" Mercedes said. Draco rolled his eyes and sat down in between Willow and Georgia.

"Did you guys get your Elective class sign-up sheets yet?" Draco asked. Georgia nodded.

"Got them this morning. I'm still thinking about what classes I'll choose. I might join an extra-curricular activity too, like music or art or something." Georgia shrugged.

"I'm doing Divination. Haven't decided what else." Willow said. Draco laughed.

"First you become a crazy Quidditch player, and now you're turning into a Seer?" Draco mocked. Willow glared at him.

"I'm taking Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes. Maybe I'll add Care of Magical Creatures." Mercedes said.

"Why on earth would you need to take Muggle Studies? Your father's a Muggle-born!" Georgia asked.

"Mum thinks it would be lovely if I learned more about Muggles. My father isn't much for Muggle technology. Thinks that magic is more convenient. I don't blame him." Mercedes said.

"Well, anyways, what's everyone's plans for summer break?" Willow asked.

"I'm going to Austria over the summer. It's a lovely place, I hear." Mercedes said.

"I might be going to the Caribbean for a week or two, I don't know if my dad's finalized it yet." Georgia smiled.

"I'm staying home, because of the Quidditch World Cup. Father doesn't want to go anywhere this summer." Draco said.

"Oh! I almost forgot! Georgia, Sadie, how would you two like to go to the Quidditch World Cup with me? Mother bought extra tickets." Willow asked excitedly.

"Of course. Maybe I could drag Mum and Dad into coming with me." Mercedes said.

"Oh yes! That would be great! I haven't seen your parents in a while! What do you say, Georgia?" Willow asked.

"I don't know yet. I'll see what my plans are. My parents might not let me go." Georgia said.

"It's fine. Just let me know." Willow smiled.

"Sounds good." Georgia smiled. The group sat in awkward silence, eating their breakfast, before Draco stood up.

"Oh, I almost forgot. The last Hogsmeade visit is today. I'll see you all later." Draco said quickly, before heading off.

_Page_Break_

The last day of term came much faster than Georgia anticipated. Year-end exams flew by and Georgia was happy to find out that she passed everything. The end-of-term feast was to take place in an hour, and Georgia was mindlessly wandering the grounds. She had somehow found herself down by the Whomping Willow, staring down at the Forbidden Forest and Hagrid's hut. She sunk down to her knees and just stared while her mind wandered.

The only thing that brought her back to reality was when she felt someone sit beside her. She looked and saw Draco sitting beside her. He smiled at her, and the two stared off into the distance. Draco suddenly snapped out of it and turned to her.

"The feast is about to start. Come on. Let's go." He said, blushing. They both got up and walked towards the castle, Georgia stealing one last look at the view.

The Great Hall was covered in colours of red and gold, signaling that Gryffindor had won the House Cup. Georgia and Draco sat down at the Slytherin table, next to Daphne and Astoria, who both were lazily picking at their food. Draco and Georgia both filled up their plates and stuffed themselves full, feeling like they had deserved it after a long hard year.

After all the pudding was gone, everyone left to their dormitories, including Georgia. She hadn't packed anything for the trip back to London in the morning.

It took her some time, but eventually she finished and went to sleep for the last time in her dorm for around three months.

The next morning, she helped Willow run down her checklist and helped Luna once again recover her stolen things, threatening anyone who gave back items that if they did it again, there would be hell to pay. Her and Draco walked down to the carriages together and claimed one for themselves. When they reached the train, they went their separate ways, as he went to visit with Zabini and Nott, and she went to see Luna and Ginny.

Georgia stared out the window as the train departed.

She couldn't wait for next year.

But now she had three months of freedom.


	30. Chapter 29

Georgia stared at the clock on the wall, watching the minutes slowly tick away.

"Stop waiting around for them. Go do the dishes." her mother told her.

"Done."

"Then go pack."

"Done"

"Okay then, water the flowers, or fold the laundry, or mop the floor."

"Done, done and done." Georgia said. She sat cross-legged on the couch, staring at the fireplace.

A lot had happened over the summer so far, and it's hard for Georgia to explain.

First, they did end up on a two-week-long trip to the tropics, but not the Caribbean, as Georgia's father was too late in booking a hotel room. Instead, they ended up at a little island that Georgia had ever heard of before: Turks and Caicos.

It was a very lovely place, and Georgia enjoyed every second of it.

Her days were either spent in the water or on the beach. Her dad wanted to book different excursions, but Georgia refused to leave the beach.

She was rather upset when time came to leave and fly back to England, but only when she got back did she realize how much she missed her home. With barely seeing it in the past year, it was a relief to finally lay on her bed once more.

A few weeks ago, she got an owl from Willow, who had previously invited her to come with her and Mercedes to the Quidditch World Cup, telling her that she was confused and her family only managed to snag one extra ticket, meaning that Georgia couldn't go with them.

A day later, as if by fate, another owl arrived. This owl Georgia knew by name, Errol, and knew right away who it was from. Ginny Weasley.

Ginny wrote to her that her dad had managed to get tickets, and she convinced him to ask for an extra one to invite a friend. Namely, Georgia.

Ginny said that they would be using the Floo network to get to Georgia's place to pick her up, which she had never heard of. Ginny elaborated on this, stating that it was a method of Wizarding transportation via fireplace, and to be ready at 3:00 on the 15th of August to spend a few days at Ginny's home before the game.

And that led all up to now, where Georgia's waiting impatiently for them to burst through the fireplace. She glanced at the clock. 2:57. Three more minutes of waiting, then off to spend a week at the Weasley's. She twiddled her thumbs with boredom.

"Calm down. What if they're late, Georgie?" her mother asked.

As soon as she said that, the fireplace lit up with a green flame and there was Ginny, stumbling around after walking out of the fireplace.

"And what if they're early?" Georgia said sarcastically, before engulfing Ginny in a hug.

"Georgia! How was your summer?" Ginny asked.

"It was pretty good, what about you?" Georgia asked as the fireplace lit up once more and out came Ginny's twin brothers, Fred and George, just as fiery red-haired as their sister. Georgia never communicated with them much, but they knew who each other were, as the two were the biggest troublemakers in the whole school. She was surprised as the twins greeted Georgia like an old friend and gave her a big hug, only for her to feel one of them slip something in her back pocket.

Once more the fire lit up and Arthur Weasley, Ginny's father, came out of the fireplace and went over to greet Georgia's mum. The twins grabbed Georgia's bags and walked over to the fireplace as Mr. Weasley reassured Georgia's mum, who was now looking very skeptical on what happened to her fireplace when they showed up, that everything would be okay and that she was leaving her daughter in good hands. After a tight hug from her mother, Georgia walked over to the fireplace. Ginny handed her some strange powder.

"Throw this powder into the fireplace, say loudly and clearly, "The Burrow", then walk in." Ginny instructed. Georgia obeyed, then found herself being sucked into what felt like a vacuum as her living room disappeared and just as soon as it did, everything returned back to normal and Georgia tripped and faceplanted right into the floor of Ginny's home.

She groaned as she pushed herself back onto her feet. Ginny appeared right behind her in the fireplace, walking up to Georgia as she stared in awe at the big house.

"Welcome to The Burrow. I know, it's nothing much. Not very big, a little messy, not very fancy." Ginny said. Georgia stared at her in shock.

"What are you talking about? This place is amazing!" she exclaimed as she moved from the living room to the fair-sized kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley was busy cooking dinner. She didn't seem to notice the girls until Ginny walked to the sink to grab a glass of water for Georgia.

"Oh! Ginny, I didn't think you'd be back so soon! And hello there, Georgia! I don't believe we've properly met before, but Ginny's told us a lot about you! Come, dear, let me get you something to eat." Mrs. Weasley smiled as she guided Georgia to the table.

"No, Mrs. Weasley, I'm fine. No need to waste your food on me. I can wait until dinner." Georgia refused.

"Oh dear, really, it's all okay. I insist." Mrs. Weasley smiled as she placed a plate of homemade biscuits and a cup of tea in front of Georgia. She took a bite out of the biscuit, and knew right away that any other cookie would taste bland to her. These biscuits were soft, tasty, and she could tell that they were lovingly prepared with care. It always seemed to Georgia that you could taste a mother's love in her cooking.

She didn't know what happened to the other Weasleys that came to pick her up, but the strange but interesting clock in the living room that showed where all family members were at all times displayed that they were at home. She didn't wonder for long, because the house was much bigger than her own, so they could be anywhere.

Georgia finished her tea and biscuits in a hurry to get out of the kitchen and give that space back to cook. Ginny grabbed her arm and dragged her down the hallway to her bedroom. It was small but very bright and welcoming. Posters of Quidditch stars and what looked like bands donned her walls.

"I hope you don't mind it that Hermione will be staying in this room with us when she comes in a few days." Ginny said as she sat on her bed.

"Wait, Granger's coming?" Georgia asked.

"Yeah, and Harry." Ginny responded.

"Malfoy's gonna be mad if he sees me with them." Georgia said. Ginny giggled, then laid back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Georgia sat cross-legged on the floor beside her bed.

The two talked for a bit before Ginny stood up off of the bed and said, "Wanna do something awesome?". Georgia nodded, because why not, and the two sneaked out of her bedroom, opened the door, walked outside with Ginny yelling a quick "Mum! We're going outside!", and walked towards to what must be the Weasley's broomshed. Ginny pulled out two brooms, looked back behind her shoulder, then ran towards the trees. She handed Georgia a broom as they walked through the forest.

"Where are we going?" Georgia asked.

"Somewhere where my brothers won't spot us. We're going to go fly around, maybe play a little Quidditch, if that's okay with you." Ginny said as they reached the other end of the forest to a big open field.

"Yeah, that seems fine with me." Georgia said.

Ginny examined how well she could see The Burrow from there, then continued walking.

"They could still probably see us from here, Let's go a little further." Ginny stated as they walked towards even more woods.

"Why don't you want them seeing you?" Georgia asked.

"Because I'm 'not allowed to play with them', because Mum's afraid that I'll get hurt." Ginny sighed.

"How long have you been doing this?"

"Since I was six. I would take everyone's brooms out in turn, find a secluded place, and fly them around. Sometimes I would take the Quaffle and pretend that I was playing Quidditch. I've never been caught before, and I sure hope that today isn't the day that it happens." Ginny said.

"Really? Since you were six?" Georgia exclaimed.

"Shut up, not so loud." Ginny snapped as they reached the end of this forest.

"Perfect, right here. You fly much?" Ginny asked.

"No, it's Summers that's the flyer out of my dormmates." Georgia said.

"But you know the basics, right?"

"Of course." Georgia said.

"Then come on!" Ginny smiled as she mounted her broom and started flying up. Georgia did the same, but flew up a little shakily.

"I haven't done this in almost two years." she laughed.

"Well then, let's see how much you remember." Ginny smirked before flying off. Georgia followed not too far behind, gripping the broom tightly for some reason, she didn't know. The two raced around the sky, Ginny winning every time because of obvious experience.

This continued for hours, until the sun started setting. Georgia loved the feeling of the wind through her hair as they zoomed around the sky. As the sun set, the two landed and played around in the grass like a pair of little kids.

"You know, Luna lives around here, about five miles away, I think. Maybe we should get her over here tomorrow, before they leave for the Cup." Ginny said as the two laid down on the grass, staring up at the sky.

"That would be lovely." Georgia sighed.

"So, what elective classes did you choose?" Ginny asked.

"I chose Ancient Runes, Care of Magicial Creatures, and Muggle Studies, because I get homesick sometimes." Georgia said.

"I got Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Ancient Runes. So I'll be in two of your classes!" Ginny smiled.

"That's great!"

"We better pack up before Mum calls us or on of the boys comes to fetch us. We'd be busted for sure." Ginny said, pushing herself up onto her feet. Georgia followed, and the two grabbed their brooms and headed back through the forest. When they got back to The Burrow, they were relived to find that dinner wasn't quite ready yet.

"Good, you two are back. I was getting worried." Mrs. Weasley said. "Ginny, could you help Ron and Bill set the table? Georgia, dear, you go ahead and sit down." she asked. Ginny obliged, but Georgia followed Ginny. She helped Ginny set the table, as it seemed that her brothers had found a distraction. As soon as the table was all set, Mrs. Wealsey used her wand to carry all the food out to the big table. The two sat beside each other as the rest of the red-headed clan showed up. Ginny introduced Georgia to everyone as they dug into the big roast that Mrs. Weasley lovingly prepared.

"That's Bill, with the long hair. He's my oldest brother." Ginny said, pointing to a man with long red hair in a ponytail. "He works in Egypt for Gringotts. And there's Charlie over there, he works with dragons in Romania." She motioned over to a man who looked almost just like his younger brothers, except older. "And Percy, he works at the Ministry now, Fred and George, you've met them, and you know Ron."

"It's nice to meet you guys." Georgia said.

After the last of the pudding was gone, Ginny and Georgia headed to her room to get ready for bed. Georgia saw that had put a cot up for her to sleep on. The two settled in as Georgia thought about how great the day had been, and couldn't wait till the game.


	31. Chapter 30

"Georgia, wake up! It's time to get up!" Ginny said excitedly. Georgia groaned and rolled over in bed.

"Ten more minutes." she grumbled.

"Come on! It's the day of the game! We don't want to be late, do we?" Ginny exclaimed. Georgia hesitantly rolled out of bed, grabbed some day clothes and slowly shuffled to the bathroom. As she brushed her teeth, she could hear Ginny on the other side of the door jumping up and down in excitement. She changed into the clothes opened the door and shuffled down to the kitchen for breakfast.

Georgia saw the whole Wealsey clan, albeit Ron, who was more than likely still sleeping, sitting at the table. Ginny skipped to a chair and sat down, Georgia pulled out the one next to her. The table was buzzing with excitement for the game. She filled her plate up with eggs and bacon, and watched as Ginny wolfed down her meal. In a matter of moments, Ginny was pushing her chair away from the table and ran to her room. Georgia slowly nibbled on a piece of toast as Ronald, Potter and Granger came from upstairs and took a seat.

All of a sudden, Mr. Weasley glanced at the clock and exclaimed, "Hurry up and eat, we better get going!". Georgia finished her breakfast and made her way to Ginny's room, followed shortly by Granger. The second that she stepped in the room, Ginny tossed her a green, orange and white shirt.

"Put it on, we're supporting Ireland! Except Ron, he adores Viktor Krum of Bulgaria. " Ginny smiled. Georgia slipped on the shirt and grabbed her bag, stuffing it with treats so she wouldn't have to buy anything from concession. After making sure that she had everything, she walked into the living room, waiting for everyone else to get ready.

After almost the entire Wealsey family was there, except Bill, Charlie and Percy, who would be Apparating, and Mrs. Weasley, who was staying home (they themselves would be taking a Portkey, which Georgia had little clue about), Arthur led the group out the door and started walking through the tall grass to a steep hill nearby where Ginny and Georgia went to fly their brooms over the past few days.

At the top of the hill, stood a man that Georgia didn't recognize and a boy that she did. The boy was Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff Prefect and Quidditch Captain. She knew who he was due to Draco and Willow talking about him during the Quidditch season last year at Hogwarts.

"Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it!"

"Amos!" Mr. Weasley greeted the man. He waved back and the two were talking, with Mr. Diggory's arm wrapped around Cedric lovingly, but it looked to Georgia as if Amos was bragging about his son. Cedric glanced over in Georgia's direction, his eyes lit up and he walked towards her. Her stomach did little backflips, because there was no denying that Cedric was very good-looking.

"Ginny, help, the cute boy's coming towards me. Something like this has never happened to me before." Georgia muttered quickly. Ginny gave her an odd look.

"Hello? You've been joined at the hip with Draco Malfoy for the past two years!" Ginny muttered back, causing Georgia to jump back in surprise and confusion. She didn't have much time to contemplate it, however, as Cedric had reached them and offered his hand out to her to shake. She tensed up for a millisecond before reminded herself that she was a Slytherin and things like that don't happen to her, and returned the offer.

"I never thought I'd see a Slytherin on good terms with Malfoy hanging out with Weasley's, but yet again, who would have thought about a Muggle-born Slytherin? I take it you're Georgia Newton. Cedric Diggory." he smiled at her.

"Nice to finally meet you. I've seen you around school, but never really cared to say hi, didn't want to seem like one of those fangirls swooning over you." She smirked.

"I'm flattered." he grinned. "Oh, could you perhaps tell your Quidditch team to be nicer? I don't deserve all the hate!" he smirked.

"Oh, I'm sure that Willow Summers will have them under control. Have you ever seen her after her teammates get a penalty?"

"Nope, but I've seen her play. Let me tell you, the odds of you winning the cup next year are a lot higher than ours."

"You're bloody damn right." she beamed. Cedric laughed.

"You seem pretty confident in that."

"That's an understatement." she winked. Oh Merlin, was she flirting with a boy three years older than her?

Diggory rolled his eyes before moving on and shaking Ginny's hand, along with the rest of the party. Before she knew it, they were hiking up the hill again.

To others, it may have seemed like a hard walk up the hill, take Ronald, who was complaining, but she found it enjoyable. When they reached the top, Georgia was immensely disappointed.

Lying on the ground at the very top;

Was a boot.

A dirty, worn-out old boot. When Mr. Weasley instructed for all of them to touch the boot at the same time, Georgia supposed that it was the so-called Portkey. As soon as her fingers grazed the boot, she felt as if a hook was pulling her behind her belly button as her surroundings turned blurry.

Just as soon as it started, it stopped and Georgia found herself laying on her chest on the ground. She groaned in pain, slowly pushed herself up, and brushed off her clothes as she saw everyone else lying on the ground as well, except the Diggorys and Mr. Weasley, who gracefully floated down onto the ground.

She saw Ginny push herself up, spitting dirt out of her mouth. She walked next to Georgia a bit dizzily.

"Have you ever done that before?" Georgia asked. Ginny shook her head and then suddenly ran to a nearby bush. The sounds of vomiting a few seconds later let Georgia know what was the problem. She looked in the opposite direction to give her friend a little privacy.

Ginny came back a minute later, a little shaken up but looking relieved. She gave Georgia a little thumbs-up to show that she was okay as she walked back towards her.

Georgia looked around, and saw two men dressed as Muggles, but very poorly, so they gave off the impression of total idiots who have never seen a piece of clothing in their lives if she didn't know better., but of course, she knew that they were wizards.

"Morning, Basil." Mr. Weasley said to a wizard wearing a kilt and a poncho.

"Hello there, Arthur," the man named Basil said. "Not on duty, eh? It's alright for some. . . . We've been here all night. . . . You'd better get out of the way, we've got a big party coming in from the Black Forest at five-fifteen. Hang on, I'll find your campsite. . . . Weasley . . . Weasley . . ." He muttered as he read a list on parchment he was holding. "About a quarter of a mile's walk over there, first field you come to. Site manager's called Mr. Roberts. Diggory . . . second field . . . ask for Mr. Payne." Basil said.

"Thanks, Basil." Mr. Weasley said, and started walking, motioning the group to follow him, excluding the Diggorys, who headed off in another direction. Georgia's eyes widened in awe as she could start making out rows and rows of tents in the dim morning light. They walked up to a little cottage were a real Muggle (Georgia knew immediately as she saw him) was standing in the doorway.

"Morning!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed at the Muggle. He went up and started paying the man, with help from Potter. The Muggle started talking about some wizard trying to pay him in Galleons (which he described as "big gold coins the size of hubcaps"), when a wizard came out of nowhere and shouted "Obliviate!". The man's eyes glazed over and he had a dreamy look not unlike Luna Lovegood's, then handed Mr. Weasley a map of the campsite and his change. Georgia sighed. Things can get pretty strange in the Wizarding World, but by now, she was used to it.

The wizard that modified the Muggle's memory accompanied them to the gate of the campsite, where him and Arthur exchanged words, before he Disapparated.

"I thought Mr. Bagman was Head of Magical Games and Sports, he should know better than to talk about Bludgers near Muggles, shouldn't he?" Ginny asked, and at the moment, Georgia realized that she wasn't paying attention to the conversations around her.

"He should," Mr. Weasley said, leading them through the gates into the campsite, "but Ludo's always been a bit . . . well . . . lax about security. You couldn't wish for a more enthusiastic head of the sports department though. He played Quidditch for England himself, you know. And he was the best Beater the Wimbourne Wasps ever had."

"Who now?" Georgia whispered to Ginny.

"Ludo Bagman, Head of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry of Magic. He's a little excited about this whole thing." Ginny giggled.

They walked through the rows of tents, while Georgia looked at all the different ones as she passed. Some tried to look like Muggle tents, but other failed extravagantly.

"Ah, here we are. Look, this is us." Mr. Weasley said, pointing at a sign that said "Weezly" at the edge of the field of tents near some woods. Mr. Weasley took his backpack off, and started unrolling two tents, saying that they couldn't use magic. Georgia helped Mr. Weasley assemble them, as she had been camping a time or two in her youth.

In a matter of minutes, with Georgia's handyman-ship, the tents were up. She stared at them, wondering how the heck 11 people were to fit into the two small tents, until Ginny led her and Hermione into the girl's tent. She gasped as the little inside of the tent she was used to seeing as no more, instead replaced with two fair-sized rooms, with three bedrooms, a bathroom and kitchen.

"Woah, this is awesome!" Georgia exclaimed as she rushed to claim the best bedroom.

This was looking to be an awesome Quidditch World Cup.


	32. Chapter 31

"Wake up! It's time! We got to get going!" Ginny exclaimed, shaking Georgia awake. She groaned but crawled out of bed anyways. Around 3 o'clock, Georgia settled down for a quick nap before the game, as she never did well with days where she wakes up early and gets to bed late, if she were to get to bed at all that night. She cleaned herself up before slipping her shoes on and her bag of sweets and walked outside.

The number of tents there had only grew since that morning. Seas of green and orange were at one end and the other was black and red. People were already headed to the stadium to get seated, and it was only just barely dusk.

The afternoon was a very interesting one. Her and Ginny, after eating lunch, during which they were introduced to Ludo Bagman, who Georgia thought was a bit loony, and Barty Crouch, Percy's boss, who was rather interesting, to say the least, decided to walk around and look at all the different tents and try to find their friends and classmates. Georgia met Willow and Mercedes about half a mile from their own tent and became clueless as the two girls started talking about Viktor Krum, and Georgia finding no response to their questions about her opinion on him. They met Luna near their own tent and walked around with her for a bit, before she said she thought she saw a Blibbering Humdinger in the bushes. Georgia was amazed by the amount of people there was as she strolled around the campsite/

Everyone was outside, ready to head into the stadium. They started walking towards the woods before Ronald, Granger and Potter stopped at a booth selling Onnioculars, which looked like binoculars, but brass and with a bunch of knobs, dials and buttons. Georgia heard that they were for viewing the Quidditch match, so she dug her bag of money out and bought her and Ginny each a pair, which at the hefty price of ten Galleons per piece, would cost her a month of pocket money for sure. She also stopped and bought a green shamrock rosette and a giant green hat with dancing shamrocks as she passed by the team merchandise booth, and Ginny bought herself a rosette as well as a small Ireland flag.

They walked back to the group just as the sound of a giant gong sounded and a path through the woods was illuminated.

"It's time!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed excitedly "Come on, let's go!"

They all followed Mr. Weasley down the path through the woods, joining the crowds of people already making their way to the stadium. There was sounds of laughter and shouting, all carrying the aura of excitement. As they exited the woods, a ginormous stadium was viewable, making Georgia gasp in amazement.

"Seats a hundred thousand." Mr. Weasley said as everyone joining Georgia in gaping at the huge structure. She looked at Mr. Weasley as if he were insane. Most of the football stadiums she's been to could barely fit half that!

"Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again . . . bless them," he added as they reached the nearest entrance.

He handed their tickets to a young witch, who looked at them in awe "Prime seats! Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go." she said, pointing at the staircase nearby.

Georgia groaned as they started hiking up the stairs, which were carpeted in a rich purple colour. After what seemed like hours, they reached the top box. It was small, with about twenty lavish-looking chairs, and at the highest point in the stadium. As they took seats in the front row, she looked out at the pitch below. It was an amazing sight, as she saw a hundred thousand witches and wizards, either clad in green and orange, or black and red. The turf down below looked as if it were velvet, and the giant three hoops on each end of the field looked like they were made of pure gold. A giant blackboard similar to the jumbo-tron at the football games she used to go to all the time kept writing advertisements on it in gold writing, then suddenly disappeared, only to have another ad appear on it.

She ate up the whole sight with her eyes, taking in every moment of it as it gradually got louder the closer the game was to starting. An announcement on the blackboard stated that the mascot presentation ceremony was to start in a few minutes.

Georgia's attention was cut from the field as the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, came up into the box and greeted the Weasleys. Not very long after that, came walking in Lucius Malfoy, followed by his wife and his son and Georgia's best friend, Draco.

Georgia and Draco's eyes locked for a minute and she felt herself tense up and start breathing heavily.

She had never realized that he was so attractive, especially now that he was older and getting more mature.

His hair was longer and all over, his face had matured, and his grey eyes had never seemed lovelier before to her.

And his lips never seemed more kissable.

Merlin, what was wrong with her?

She's never thought about him like this before, and it was scaring her. Georgia couldn't take it anymore and turned her head away from him as he followed his father who came up to the Minister and shook hands. She came face to face with Ginny, who had an amused look on her face.

It all started to tick in her head as she remembered what Ginny had said that morning. She took another glance at Draco, who sneaked a friendly smirk at her when no one was looking. She smiled back and gave a slight wave at him, before Lucius Malfoy turned her attention onto him as he spoke to Mr. Weasley.

"Good lord, Arthur, what did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?" he smirked as he examined the row, his eyes landing on Georgia, who gulped nervously.

"Oh, and look what we have here. Miss Newton, I would imagine. Makes sense for you to take someone like her in, but I can't help but feel as if she betrayed the powerful house of Slytherin by choosing to correspond with people like you." he sneered as Fudge kept talking about what good Mr. Malfoy has done for the Ministry, completely ignoring that past statement.

"Well, at least we don't have to donate money to bribe my way onto the good side of the Minister." She leered. Ginny gave her a shocked look. Georgia knew that she was playing with the devil. It was a risky move, but she was willing to make it.

Lucius looked at her, looked around and saw that more people were coming in and he would most certainly be caught if he were to do what she was sure he wanted to do with her, then reluctantly sat down with his wife and Draco, who gave her an impressed look. Georgia sat down with a smirk and Ginny looked at her in awe.

"Oh, the mascot ceremony is starting!" Ginny said, pointing down to the field.

Sure enough, walking out onto the field were these women. But they didn't seem like ordinary women.

They were flawless.

With sleek, shiny silver hair, unblemished skin as white as snow, and the perfect hourglass body, they danced around the field wearing black and red. She stared at them in disgust as she looked around desperately to find a mirror. She saw one in the back corner of the box and used it to pick out her imperfections.

Her hair was flat and too boring and straight for her liking. She found herself thinking how nice it would be to have curls. Her lips were pale pink and horribly chapped, her face was starting to break out slightly, her body wasn't nearly as perfect as theirs, her bust was much too small for her liking, and her glasses made her look like a geek.

She soon noticed that she wasn't the only one staring at the mirror; almost every woman in the box was examining themselves, except for a few who were staring in amazement at the flawless women, much like the men.

The men's eyes were glazed over, and they couldn't seem to take their eyes from them, even the married men were fixed on these women, causing their wives to slap and hit them to get their attention off of the gorgeous ladies and their routine.

Georgia glanced over at Draco and saw that he too was drooling over the women, on the edge of his seat, in a trance. She felt a steaming feeling of jealousy and wishing that it was her that he was staring at. She didn't even care about the fact that she should not be thinking that, she felt as if she should walk over there and kiss him and get him to pay attention to her.

And just as she thought that, the women had finished their routine and were making their way to the sidelines.

"What the hell were those?" Georgia exclaimed.

"I think Dad said that they were called Veela. Women-like creatures of extreme beauty." Ginny said.

"Extreme beauty is right." She grumbled.

"They leave an effect on humans, especially men, that can be deadly because those effected by the Veela's spell would do anything to get to them, even fall off of buildings and things like that, I believe Dad said." Ginny said. "Oh! Look! Leprechauns!"

Georgia looked, and sure enough, was a giant green and gold shamrock flying above the crowd. As she looked closer with her Omnioculars, she saw that the shamrock was made up of thousands of little bearded men with red coats, each holding a lamp that was either gold or green. She looked some more and saw that golden coins were raining down from the leprechaun shamrock.

As the shamrock flew past them, a load of coins fell down onto everyone in the box. Georgia started grabbing as many coins as she could. The leprechauns broke apart as they hit the ground and walked to the sidelines, sitting down cross-legged.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome, the Bulgaria National Quidditch Team!" Ludo Bagman, who would be commentating the match exclaimed excitedly using the Sonorus charm.

"I give you – Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Volkov! Aaaaaaaand – Krum!" Bagman yelled as players in scarlet-red robes flew out onto the pitch.

"That's him! That's him!" she looked over and saw Ronald bouncing up and down and pointing as Krum flew out from the locker room. Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother's actions.

"And now, please greet- the Irish National Quidditch Team! Presenting- Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaaaaaand- Lynch!" Bagman announced as the Irish players clad in green whipped out of their locker room faster than Bagman could announce them. She had heard somewhere that they would be using Firebolts, the broom that Potter had gotten last year, as their official game broom for the match.

Georgia got her Omnioculars ready; it was looking to be a great match.

_Page_Break_

"We won! We won! We won!" the yells of Fred and George could probably be heard from miles away as they chanted happily, more pleased with the fact that they had won thirty-seven Galleons from a bet they placed with Ludo Bagman.

Georgia and Ginny walked along the path back to the campsite with big smiles plastered on their faces. It was one hell of a game, very intense for sure. Krum caught the Snitch, but Ireland won one-hundred-and-sixty to one-hundred-and-seventy.

As they reached the tent, they agreed to have a cup of cocoa before heading to bed, so they gathered around the table in the boys' tent with steaming mugs of hot chocolate, talking about the game. Georgia watched amusedly and lively as Fred and George were set on giving Ron a hard time about Krum, but Ginny beside her was half-asleep. When Ginny had fallen asleep there at the table, knocking over her cup of cocoa, everyone agreed that it was time to turn in.

Georgia prodded her friend up, who awakened with a jolt. They then bid good-night to the boys as Georgia helped a sleepy Ginny over to their tent, followed close behind by Granger. Once they were settled in and all in bed did she realize just how tired she was and quickly drifted off into a deep sleep.

She was wakened probably two hours later with the shouts of Mr. Weasley poking his head into the tent.

"Wake up, girls! Hermione, Ginny, Georgia! Up now! It's urgent!"

Georgia groaned drowsily as she rolled out of bed as fast as her sluggish self could. She pulled on a jumper over her pajamas and grabbed the nearest scarf, which happened to be her green and silver Slytherin one and grabbed her glasses and wand as she hurried out her bedroom and to the outside of the tent, almost running into Granger. She mumbled an apology as she exited the tent.

"Wha- what's happening?" she asked sleepily as she joined the boys, who were already awake, outside, Ginny and Granger right behind her.

The first thing she noticed was the absence of celebrating and singing, replaced by yells and screams. With the light of the few fires remaining burning, she could see people running scared into the forest. She looked to see what they were running from and heard sounds similar to gunfire and an odd flashing of light coming from that direction. As it came closer, the small flashing light engulphed into a bright green light as drunken laughter and hollering was heard.

A group of wizards moving together in black robes, with wands up in the air, marched along, and up in the air, floating, were four figures. As they came closer, she noticed that the figures were the Muggle campsite manger and what must be his wife and children. They weren't even under any spells to impair the Muggles, just the green light spell that was keeping them afloat.

"We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley yelled over all the noise as Bill, Charlie, and Percy followed him away from the tent. "You lot, get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!"

"C'mon," Fred said, grabbing a hold of Ginny's hand and took off for the woods. She noticed George trying to take her own hand to guide her like his twin did for Ginny, but she slapped it away, sprinting towards the forest.

Once they reached the trees, they shoved past the group of people and headed towards the back, where there was more room and it would be safer. She heard a shriek of pain belonging to Ron and her and Ginny rushed to see if everything was alright.

"Everything okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Tripped over a tree root…" he groaned as Granger and Potter helped him to his feet.

"Well, with feet that size, hard not to…" a recognizable voice said from behind.

Draco stood there, leaning against a tree, seemingly calm amidst the chaos.

"Shove it, will you? Now's not the time for your games, Draco." Georgia warned shakenly. She saw him tense up as if he just noticed she was there and gulped a tiny bit.

"Hanging out with them, hey, Newton? Decided you'd rather be friends with blood-traitors, I take it." He leered.

"If you've not noticed for the past three years, I. Am. A. Muggle. Born. If you'd get your head out of your arse long enough to see that I'm not a Pureblood like you, maybe you'll figure out why I'm hanging out with them. I can be friends with whoever I want, you know." She snapped. Ginny gave her a look of approval.

"Ooooo, somebody's in a mood," he smirked.

"No, it's just not a good time for you to be pulling this. Can't you see what's going on? Or do you just want to hide the fact that your father's more than likely with that terror group over there?" she sneered, causing Draco to surprisingly turn a shade of red before turning to head the other direction, defeated.

"Oh, and also, see you at Hogwarts!" she yelled after him. Ginny looked at her bewildered.

"Your relationship with him confuses me." Ronald said.

"Yeah, I'm not even sure how it works." Georgia sighed.


	33. Chapter 32

Georgia flipped over the Daily Prophet, but it looked like even more articles from that Rita Skeeter woman. She threw it down with a huff.

"What's the matter?" Her mother asked. It had been eight days since the game, and all there was in any wizarding newspaper, magazine, and marketplace, as her mother took her to Diagon Alley earlier that week, was Ministry bashing. Mr. Weasley was receiving already many Howlers the day after, Merlin knows how many he was getting now.

"Is it the World Cup thing?" her mum asked.

"What else? It's getting annoying, and I know when I get back to Hogwarts today, the only thing they'll be talking about is this whole thing." She sighed.

"Aw sweetie, it'll be all fine. If anything is going on, you can always write to me." Her mum said, giving her a kiss on the cheek, which she playfully responded to that by pushing her mother away.

"Oh, it's 8:00 already! You better get everything together! Its two hours from London, so we should get going soon!" her mother blurted out. Georgia wolfed down the rest of her breakfast and ran up the stairs to her room, going through a check of all the things she needs before she returns to Hogwarts that morning.

"Okay, I've got my books, wand, clothes, hygienic thingies, Chaton, and journal. Oh, where's my money bag; Oh, there it is. I'll need it for Hogsmea- Oh dammit! Mum! I need you to sign this!" she ran from her room, clutching her permission form.

"Yes, love?" her mother shouted from Georgia's parents' bedroom, where her and her father were getting ready to leave.

"Could you sign this form saying that you'll let me go to the wizarding village on the designated weekends?" she spoke quickly. Her mother signed in without hesitation, and she ran back to her room and tucked it into her journal. After going through another quick check, she picked up her heavy suitcase in one hand and Chaton's crate in the other and lugged them down the stairs with a loud thump with every step she dragged them down.

"Ready to go back to school, Georgie?" her father asked, ruffling a hand through her hair.

"I suppose. What I want to do is stay here, but I do love Hogwarts." She sighed as her dad picked up her suitcase for her and took it out to the car. Her mother came down the stairs a moment later, smiled, and wrapped her arm around her daughter. Georgia picked Chaton back up as her mother led her to the car. She slipped in the back seat, putting Chaton directly across from her.

She took one last look at her home for what would be a long time.

Little did she know, when she came back, everything would be different.

_Page_Break_

After what seemed like a million times, going into Platform 9¾ was a breeze by now. Spotting her friends in the crowd was harder but simple when the crowds eased up. Saying goodbye was the hardest part. Finding a compartment was the second-hardest part.

She and Ginny found a compartment all to themselves, until they found Luna and dragged her in with them. As the train departed, her and Ginny talked about the World Cup while Luna read The Quibbler as usual. When the treat trolley came around, they talked with Luna about their summers as they surrounded themselves with sweets.

After halfway through the train ride, Ginny went off to see how her brothers were doing. After she left, to her surprise, Draco poked his head into her compartment, asking to see her.

"Why? What's wrong?" she asked.

"Hush, don't ask, just come here." He whispered. She looked at Luna, who was very occupied with her magazine, so she slipped out and to a far compartment where a couple of Draco's dormmates; Zabini and Nott, Mercedes, Willow, Daphne, and another girl Georgia didn't recognize were sitting in. Mercedes, when she saw Georgia, patted the seat beside her. She sat down as she got ready to see what was up.

"Okay, I imagine most of you have heard what is happening at Hogwarts this year?" he asked. Most people nodded, except her, girl-she-didn't-know, and Nott.

"Okay, you have heard of the Triwizard Tournament?" he asked.

"Really?!" girl-she-didn't-know exclaimed loudly.

"What's this?" Georgia asked, earning a few shocked looks.

"Stupid Mudbloods and their limited knowledge of Wizarding events…" she heard Zabini mumble. It looked to her that Willow kicked him in the shin after that remark.

"Okay, the Triwizard Tournament is pretty much a big tournament between the three biggest wizarding schools of Europe: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, and Durmstrang Institute. They choose one champion, which is a student who entered themselves in, from each school to compete in three different tasks. The winner would receive 1000 Galleons and a cup, pretty much nothing. It started around the 13th century and discontinued in the 18th due to the high death toll." Daphne explained.

"High death toll?" Georgia exclaimed.

"Yeah, it was pretty dangerous. Apparently, now they're bringing it back this year, with added safety measures, and it's going to be held at Hogwarts." Draco said.

"Interesting, any particular reason they're bringing it back?" Georgia asked.

"That's a good question. I'm not sure even the Ministry knows why." Willow shrugged.

"That's strange. I wonder why they would be doing it, especially since the World Cup fiasco." Georgia said.

"So, any good purpose why you called us in here?" Mercedes asked.

"Oh, well, yes, we need to inform you guys about the fact that there's going to be a ball on Christmas Day for the Tournament. It's tradition, apparently. So, I just you to be prepared, because forth-years and up will be expected to go. I can't stand the idea of it, but I'm going to have to go. I wanted to let you know before we get to school before you hear it from the gossips. Slytherins are brothers, and brothers would inform each other of this, correct?" Daphne sighed.

"Why'd you call us in here then?" Willow asked.

"Because you might be asked by a forth-year, I dunno." Daphne groaned. "Meeting dismissed, go do what you were doing before." She said, shooing everyone out of the compartment.

"Well, that was totally not strange." She mumbled to herself as she made her way back to her compartment.

_Page_Break_

At the Welcome Feast, sure enough, Dumbledore announced the Tournament. After hearing most of it from Daphne, she barely listened, instead playing Exploding Snap under the table with Mercedes and Willow. After the meal, she trudged herself down to the common room sleepily. She inhaled happily as she entered her dormitories.

The Halliways were already in the room, and surprisingly Sammie was quiet and not trying to talk everyone's ear off. Instead, she shot a smile at Georgia and tried to talk about the World Cup attacks, which apparently her and Asia were not there after the game, but still attended the Cup, but Georgia decided that she was done with the Quidditch talk for the day, so she ignored Sammie, who left the room and told her sister that she was going to see her friends in the common room.

She unpacked her luggage and put on her pajamas as she headed to bed, but didn't fall asleep, as she ended up talking with Mercedes and Willow about the World Cup, despite her wanting not to talk anymore about it, which when Sammie noticed this, gave Georgia an annoyed look as if she did something to hurt her. Sammie had never expressed interest in Georgia and her friends, so she was a bit weirded out by her behavior.

After everyone had decided to call it a night, she threw herself under the covers, but sleep failed to reach her. After about an hour of trying to get to sleep, she pushed the sheets off her and walked into the common room, where there wasn't a soul in sight. She sat by the fire and curled her knees up to her chin and hugged her legs, watching the flames dance. It seemed as if the fire hypnotized her into getting tired, because after a bit, it seems as if she could not keep her eyes open any longer, so she pushed herself off the chair and headed into her dormitory.


	34. Chapter 33

"Hey Georgie, excited for Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Mercedes asked.

"Yeah, did you see the new teacher?" Willow questioned.

"No, I didn't" Georgia sighed.

"And why's that? Hmm? Even though he came to dinner last night?" Mercedes smirked.

"Because I wasn't paying attention…" she groaned.

"Ha! And guess who was?" Sadie grinned.

"You…"

"So therefore, we know the DADA teacher this year and you don't!" Willow smirked. Georgia rolled her eyes.

"So, do you two have the sense to tell me who the professor is?" she asked.

The two exchanged knowing looks, then turned to her, and said "Nah…" at the exact same time.

"But trust me…" Willow grinned.

"You'll find him…" Sadie continued.

"Very interesting." They said in unison.

"I swear, you guys have some weird mind connection." Georgia said. The two smirked before parting ways with Georgia.

"Wait, where are you going?" she shouted at them.

"Divination, Willow convinced me to do it with her. I think you have Muggle Studies or something, which makes no sense. You're a Muggle-born, why would you do that?"

"Because I get homesick and I want to go and destroy everyone for an easy extra mark. And, you guys are wrong, I have Ancient Runes, so jokes on you." She smirked. She started walking in the opposite direction to her class.

Georgia found her way to the classroom and walked out an hour later happy with her subject choice. She found Runes a very interesting subject, which was something she rarely said about her classes. She later joined Mercedes and Willow again in front of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, the two wearing identical smirks on their faces. The two wouldn't stop staring at Georgia with annoying smug looks, occasionally exchanging knowing glances at each other, making her rather uncomfortable, so she slowly backed away from them and joined up with Luna and the rest of the Ravenclaws.

As the doors opened for class and everyone filed into the classroom for the first time that year, Georgia's two dormmates both shot her one last look, this time a mix of amusement, excitement, and complacency. Georgia started to feel nervousness brewing up in her stomach. Maybe Willow and Sadie weren't joking around? Who could this new teacher be? It could be anyone. They've had a crazy self-adoring idiot, a wise man who actually knew what he was doing but Willow told her when she hung with them during the World Cup that he was apparently a werewolf, and the year before Georgia came there was a weird turban-wearing man who apparently had the face of You-Know-who on the back of his head; who knows what's in store this year?

Oh right; Georgia gave an annoyed glance in the direction of Willow and Mercedes, who were seated behind her; they do.

The somewhat noisy classroom quickly was silenced as the doors shut loudly. In front of them was possibly the strangest man that she had ever seen, and that was saying something. His face was covered in scars, his hair was a very messy, tangled, grizzled mat of dark grey, he walked with a limp, which Georgia saw was caused by one of his legs being replaced by a chuck of wood.

But none of this was anything compared to his eyes. One eye, his left, was perfectly fine, small and dark, like a normal eye, while the other was a vivid blue about twice the size of his other one attached to his right socket and turning in every which direction while the other eye stayed perfectly still.

Georgia turned around to face her dormmates, who looked extremely amused. "Who is that guy?" She mouthed at them. Willow giggled before quickly writing something down on a piece of parchment, folding it into a paper airplane, and before she threw it, she made sure that the teacher was looking away from them, before throwing it towards her.

Georgia caught it quickly before unfolding the parchment.

That's Mad-Eye Moody, ex-Auror. He's a little bit, well, mad. Be careful, I've heard that his eye can see through the back of his head, through walls, pretty much through anything, so there won't be any Exploding Snap at the back of class this year, the note read in scribbly handwriting. Georgia looked behind her again and gave a nod, to reassure Willow that she read and understood it, and that she especially admired her ability to toss a note in class with a professor that can see through the back of his head without getting caught.

She turned her attention towards the front of the class, where Professor Moody was just clearing his throat to start speaking. She got herself comfortable as she prepared herself for a very interesting lesson.

_Page_Break_

"What did you girls think of Professor Moody?" Georgia asked as Ginny led them towards the Gryffindor common room. Ginny decided that, and especially because since Percy left Hogwarts, she no longer had any Prefect brothers, it wouldn't be the end of the world if she brought her friends into her common room. Ginny said that she sees her housemates bring in Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws all the time, so what harm could come from bringing Georgia, the most unlikely Slytherin to become a Death Eater?

"Well, I was going to say something different, but I should probably be nice, so I'm just going to say that he was certainly interesting." Ginny said as she led them to the portrait that Ginny said led into her common room.

"And very true to his name." Ginny added after she said the password and the portrait opened to reveal a passageway. Ginny climbed through, followed by Luna, then finally Georgia.

"Next to no one is in here, so we should be fine." Ginny said as Georgia made her way into the common room. It was nothing to obsess over, a lot of red and gold, for sure. The only people that Georgia could see were the twins and their friend Lee Jordan and the usual trio; Ronald, Granger and Potter.

"There was certainly a lot of yelling involved, I tell you." Georgia scoffed as the twins waved to them, not taking much notice to Georgia as if Slytherins came through that portrait hole everyday.

"Ginny! What were you thinking? Bringing one of them in here?" Georgia heard Ronald snapped at Ginny but was quickly silenced by what Georgia presumed was a hard kick in the leg given to him by Granger. She would have to thank her personally later. She doesn't know how in the world Granger deals with him on a daily basis without losing her marbles.

"Really, Ronald? I stayed at your house for almost a week, if you didn't notice. Oh, right, you were too busy fangirling over Viktor Krum to pay attention to anything else." She snapped at him. Ginny and the twins sniggered at this. Ronald tensed up, shrugged, then returned to whatever he was doing.

"Ignore him. He's an ass." Ginny said as they sat down by the fire.

"That's an understatement." Georgia smirked.

"Well, anyways, Luna, what did you think about Professor Moody?" Ginny asked. Luna stared off for a moment before responding.

"He seemed very angry. He shouted a lot. I think he might be housing a Wrackspurt." Luna said. Ginny and Georgia exchanged looks.

"Yeah, Luna, let's go with that."

_Page_Break_

By the time that Georgia returned to the Slytherin Dungeons, it was almost curfew. The sun was still in the sky but setting. She trudged herself to her dormitory very tiredly and almost fell asleep fully clothed on Sammie's bed while she was brushing her teeth before she became aware of whose bed she was laying in and quickly relocated to her own bed, but not before forcing herself to change into proper sleeping clothes.

Despite how tired she felt earlier, she found herself unable to fall asleep. She laid awake for what seemed like hours as her dormmates slowly fell asleep. After tossing and turning for quite some time, she gave up and drug herself out to the common room, hopeful that the fire might hypnotize her to sleep. She carefully and quietly walked out her dormitory and down the hallway to the common room but stopped in her tracks as she saw a figure already out there. She turned to go back to her bed as she didn't feel like making human contact that night, before she heard the person speak, making her jump.

"Newton? You too?" She sighed in relief as she realized that the voice belonged to Draco. She made her way over to where he sat on one of the couches by the fireplace.

"Why can't you sleep?" she asked him as she sat down beside him. She blushed as their hands touched for a brief second, and she prayed that the fire wasn't bright enough for him to see that good. She didn't even question her response to such light contact, she was too tired to properly function.

"I have as little idea as you probably do about yourself being awake." He shrugged. Georgia brought her knees to her head and hugged them close to her chest. The two sat in silence, staring at the fire. Draco seemed completely unaware of the uncomfortableness and awkwardness of the whole situation (although it might have all been in Georgia's head).

"Things are going to change around here, Georgia." Draco said suddenly, Georgia startled by both the sudden speech and him referring to her by her first name for the first time in quite some time.

"What do you mean, change?" Georgia questioned.

"Well, there's this tournament coming up, and, well, I don't think I should tell you much, but you et the idea. I just know that things will happen this year that will change a lot around here." Draco said, shifting uncomfortably.

"What can't you tell me? I know you're hiding something." Georgia said.

"It's nothing, really." Draco replied.

"It has something to do with You-Know-Who, doesn't it?" Georgia asked. Draco tensed up.

"What makes you think that?" Draco questioned.

"Well, because your- eh, nevermind." Georgia said. More silence followed while Georgia's brain was trying to process what Draco had said, but her fatigue was creeping up on her and her eyes became heavier and heavier.

"Um, I'm just gonna head back to, yeah, uh, goodnight Draco." Georgia said as she walked back to bed, wondering if that whole situation was as uncomfortable for him as it was for her.


	35. Chapter 34

"How long do we have to stand here for? Hell, they should be here by now!" Georgia grumbled. Willow shrugged.

"They should, I don't have a clue what's taking so long." Willow groaned moodily. Georgia knew what was upsetting her. Because of the tournament, the Quidditch House Cup was cancelled, and with that the whole Quidditch season went with it. Willow would still sometimes go down to the pitch and fly around, but she was still upset about no games this year.

Every single student was lined up outside the castle, preparing for the arrival of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. It was the 30th of October, and the weather was quickly changing from hot summer weather to gloomy, chilly autumn conditions.

Not much had happened in the past almost two months, just school. Georgia loved her elective classes, which was surprizing, considering that there aren't many classes that she actually likes. She was surprised with how good her grades were so far, seeing as there had been a lot of distractions from kids suddenly wanting to be her friend after the whole World Cup thing. She didn't get it, why were they o interested in it?

Other than that, it had been pretty boring around Hogwarts, yet excitement was in the air as the Tri-Wizard Tournament neared closer and closer. It was the same old thing as years past, go to class, do homework, spend time with friends, sleep, repeat. Nothing terribly interesting, and that was that.

Except Malfoy went on and got himself turned into a ferret by Professor Moody.

It was probably the funniest thing that Georgia had ever seen, how one minute Draco was pulling the same old with Potter, whom she had taken a liking to, along with Granger and Ronald, and the next Professor Moody popped out of nowhere and poof, there was Draco, running around the place like a headless chicken, scampering all over the place, the look of fear in his little rodent eyes.

And instead of trying to get her friend down, she just stood back and laughed her arse off.

And when he started climbing up Crabbe, who happened to be in the area with Goyle and Nott,'s pants, causing Crabbe to scream, run around as if he were on fire, and try to reach into his pants to get ferret-Malfoy out, Georgia really lost it. As everyone else might have been giggling slightly at this, there was her, rolling on the ground, clutching her chest as she was hysterically laughing, making much of the attention that was on the Crabbe-with-Malfoy-down-his-pants show turn towards her.

She laughed so hard when she thought of it the weeks following, it brought tears to her eyes every time. She wouldn't let Draco hear the end of it, and now she has taken to calling him "Ferret boy" every time she sees him, but usually a lot worse nicknames than that that would certainly get her in trouble if her mother ever heard her.

"Hey, Georgie, look!" Mercedes said from the other side of Willow, pointing up at the sky. Sure enough, she saw something up there, and it took her breath away. Ten beautiful, pure white winged horses flew across the sky, and behind them was a carriage the size of Georgia's house, coloured with a lovely shade of powder-blue. She gasped as the lovely horses came closer and closer until they, along with the house-carriage they were pulling, lightly touched the ground.

"Oh my!" Willow gasped, but quickly covered her mouth. Georgia soon saw why.

A ginormous woman, around ten feet tall and olive-skinned, emerged from the carriage, but not before ducking down to probably half her size to even get through the door to the outside. She was dressed in fine silks, satins and furs, with opal jewelry all over her. Georgia guessed that this was the headmistress of Beauxbatons. Despite her size, there was no other word to describe her: divine.

After she got out and stood by the carriage, came the students of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. Boys and girls of around the same age, clad in powder-blue robes made of flowing silk, came pouring out of the carriage, fast yet so elegant. Maybe that's how they do it all the time in France.

Following Dumbledore's lead, the entire student body that was out to greet the newcomers broke into applause, including Georgia, although she could not help but to get on her tip-toes to have a good look at the huge woman.

"My dear Madame Maxime, welcome to Hogwarts." Dumbledore smiled at the woman as she went up to greet him.

"Dumbly-dorr," Madame Maxime spoke in a very strong French accent. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you," Dumbledore smiled.

The two carried on mingling, but Georgia stopped paying attention. Instead, she was focused on the magnificence of the winged horses tied to the carriage. She had always found horses to be animals of extreme beauty and grace, but these, these were like no other. With a smooth, shiny, gorgeous coat the colour of a palomino, flowing white mane, and silky feathers, she highly doubted she would she anything that could amount to these creatures. They were bigger than a normal horse, even bigger than a Shire, almost the size of an elephant it seemed like.

She must've got lost in watching the horses, because people around her were starting to point and stare at the lake. Was the Giant Squid coming up to say hello and possibly for a meal?

That thought was soon ruled out when a giant ship started slowly emerging from the water. The vessel reminded Georgia of one of a pirate's, except a lot bigger and more magnificent. The ship gleamed in the moonlight as it came closer to shore.

"Looks like Durmstrang's here." Willow muttered, in a tone of voice that made her seem as if she was trying to cover up the fact that she was impressed by all this.

"No kidding, how many kids are they bringing? That ship is massive." Georgia said, staring in awe at the boat.

The boat parked at shore not too far away from where the Hogwarts student body was standing, and people started departing the boat and walking towards them. As they came closer, she saw that they were wearing robes of blood-red, with matted fur cloaks and hats. Georgia couldn't think of anything else to describe the uniforms other than the polar opposite of Beauxbatons.

"Pfff, look at them, typical Russians." Willow said, still trying to sound pouty.

"Actually, Wil, they're Scandinavian." Mercedes said from the other side of Willow, earning an eye roll.

Georgia tuned them out as Willow started snapping back to Sadie, instead watching the Durmstrang headmaster, Karkaroff, she heard them call him, shake hands with Dumbledore. After exchanging a few words, Karkaroff summoned a boy to his side, but it wasn't just any normal boy. This boy, Georgia recognized very well from the World Cup.

"Willow, look! Wil, come on! Look, it's Krum!" Mercedes tried to get Willow's attention, only finally succeeding after the final sentence.

"For real? Where?" Willow said, looking all over for a glimpse at the Quidditch player.

"Over there! I though you knew he went to Durmstrang and would be coming!" Mercedes exclaimed. Willow squealed loudly as she caught sight of him.

"Sade, do you have a quill? Quick, we need to get his autograph before everyone else hounds over him!" Willow exclaimed. The two started searching through their bags as if their lives depended on it. Georgia decided to leave them to fangirl about as she started heading inside with everyone else.

She found Draco on the way into the Great Hall and joined up with him as they headed to their usual spot at the Slytherin table, her leaning her head against his shoulder all the way there.

"I'm tired." She complained. Draco pushed her off his shoulder.

"Shove off, will you?" he laughed.

"But your shoulder is so comfy!" she whined.

"I don't think, in my entire fourteen years of life, that anyone has ever told me that my shoulder is 'so comfy'" he smirked. They sat down, but Georgia found herself quickly pushed aside as Draco shoved her away and motioned towards Krum and the rest of Durmstrang to sit over with them. In between Draco and Georgia, Krum took a seat, causing Willow and Mercedes to glare jealously over at her. Georgia didn't know what to think as Draco introduced himself to Krum and started mingling with him; she was sitting beside a celebrity, which was something that some people would kill for, but she had little clue who he really was, she just knew his name.

"And who are you?" a voice suddenly spoke to her, and she realized that Krum was speaking to her. She lightly flushed and stared blankly at him for a moment not unlike what Luna would do, before finding the words to say.

"Oh, me? I'm Georgia Newton, third year, and I'm also the first Muggle-born Slytherin in half-a-century, but it's no big deal." She smiled. Nice save, she thought to herself.

"I've never met a Muggle-born before, I am thinking. You see, back at Durmstrang, ve don't allow Muggle-borns. It's nice to meet you anyvays. I vos just talking to that Malfoy boy over there. He seems pretty full of himself." Krum said.

"That's an understatement. Imagine what it's like being friends with him." She sighed.

"You? Friends with him?" Krum asked. Georgia just nodded. Krum looked at her, then back over at Draco, before shrugging and moving on to talk to the next person.

Maybe she was handling these boy situations better than she thought.


	36. Chapter 35

"Morning…" Georgia yawned as she shook Draco on the shoulder and sat next to him for breakfast. She slowly poured herself a cup of coffee of as she looked at the smoking cup that stood on a stool by the staff's table. The Goblet of Fire was a very majestic, elegantly-made cup that took the names of all the of-age students of all three schools that chose to enter.

"Anyone put their name in yet?" she asked. Draco shrugged.

"Not that I've seen." Draco said, focused on his breakfast. Georgia watched as a bunch of girls from Beauxbatons lined up to put their names in, Madam Maxime watching them proudly as they walked up one by one to the Goblet of Fire.

"Well, it looks like those French girls are already ahead of you…" she said as they each put their names in. "Lucky them, they probably think they're so great that they can enter and we can't. Oh goodness, a grand of prize money, imagine what I could've done with that!" Georgia rambled. Draco nodded half-heartedly.

"Imagine what I could've done with it!" Georgia looked and saw Willow sitting beside her. When did she get there, Georgia would never know. "I could've been able to get the whole team Firebolts! Well, more like half the team, maybe just two or three players, actually just a Firebolt for myself. But still, I would've got the team Bluebottles or something, something cheap but, eh, nevermind, you guys would be fine with what you have now…" Willow sighed.

"Do you think of anything else?" Georgia asked.

"Well, yeah, of course, I think about things like, umm, actually, yeah, I'm all Quidditch." Willow said.

"And Divination. You're just about as mad as Trelawney." Mercedes said as she sat down beside her best friend. "Morning everyone, anyone put their names- Ooh! Cinnamon buns! We're really going all out for this thing, but I'm not complaining." Mercedes exclaimed as she loaded her plate up with cinnamon buns and other pastries.

"I know, it's like dessert for breakfast." Georgia said. "A bunch of Beauxbatons girls just came and entered themselves in. I think the last of them are finishing up now, actually…" Georgia looked over and saw the last girl put her name in the Goblet, and turn around and walk back to Madam Maxime, giving the four a good look at her.

"Oh, you're kidding me! For Merlin's sake, a damn Veela!" Mercedes grumbled. There was no doubt about the fact that the girl had some Veela blood in her; flawless, creamy skin, gorgeous flowing silvery-blonde hair, the perfect figure that they had all seen at the World Cup.

"Not a full Veela, probably half or a quarter. If she were a full Veela, Draco would knock us all over to get to her, no offence to you, Draco, but that's how their powers work. Still, definitely good-looking. Her charm wouldn't work on everyone, but Weasley over there is a definite exception." Willow said, pointing at Ronald over at the Gryffindor table, who was drooling over the Veela-girl and watching her walk away like his life depended on it.

"Yeah yeah, now you act all smart. But still, won't she be distracting? She's completely gorgeous, won't everyone start flocking around her? She seems like the type to use her Veela powers to her advantage." Mercedes rambled.

"Settle down, Sadie, it's not like she's going to steal that little boyfriend of yours." Willow said simply, then broke into a smirk as Mercedes's eyes widened in embarrassment.

"Wha… What? I dunno what you're talking about." Mercedes said quickly.

"Oooo, what's this about a boyfriend?" Georgia smirked. Even Draco seemed to be interested, probably only to pester Mercedes about it.

"It-it's nothing. I just happen to have a boy for a friend. I don't get the big deal, look at you, your best mates with Malfoy, and we don't give you a hard time!" Sadie exclaimed nervously.

"Listen, Freeman, I have my friendship with Malfoy quite widely known around the school. However, you are keeping your friendship with this boy very secret, so, you see, you're in no position to talk. Spill." Georgia stated. Mercedes stared at her for a minute before sighing, looking defeated.

"Okay, if you really want to know, my so called "boyfriend", you aren't really gonna like this, but it's, um, how do I say this…. It-it's Ronald Weasley…" Mercedes mumbled. Willow and Draco looked as if they were to have heart attacks. Georgia spat out her coffee.

"Are you serious, Sade?" Willow exclaimed.

"Hell no. Mind your own business, and if I don't want to talk about it, don't pester me." Mercedes grumbled before getting up from the table and leaving the Great Hall.

"Someone's in a mood." Draco sniggered. Georgia kicked him from under the table.

"You really are pathetic, aren't you?" she sneered, but she has a smile on her face the whole time.

_Page_Break_

"The suspense is killing me. I just can't wait any damn longer to see who the champions are." Georgia heard Daphne mutter from the other side of the table.

Georgia could relate; so could pretty much everyone else gathered in the Great Hall for the Hallowe'en Feast and Champions Selection. Dinner was long ago eaten and forgotten, and everyone was sitting at the edge of their seats in anxiety for everyone that put their names in, and excitement for everyone else.

"Oh Merlin, I don't really give a damn whoever is chosen for the other schools, except if they don't choose Krum the Goblet's broken, but if Warrington's name comes out as Hogwarts Champion, I'm going to get up off my seat, walk out the room, out the Entrance Hall, out to the bridge, and jump off." Willow said.

"I'll follow you." Georgia said. "He's an absolute idiot. He'd probably get killed five minutes into the first challenge and embarrass the whole school."

"Ah! Finally, Dumbledore's speaking! I hope this means it's time, come on Cedric…" Mercedes said, but after that last word, she flushed red and covered her mouth, but nobody payed her any attention. Dumbledore was saying something about the Goblet being almost ready, but Georgia didn't hear a thing. She was too busy praying to the heavens that Warrington wouldn't be picked.

And her prayers were cut short as she jumped because the Goblet turned a sudden shade of red. Sparks flew from the Goblet and breaths were held as a piece of parchment flew out. The room was silent as Dumbledore caught the piece and read the name on it, before clearing his throat and announcing the name to the whole room.

"The champion for Durmstrang is… Viktor Krum!" Dumbledore exclaimed, and the room instantly burst into cheers and screams. Krum was pretty popular around the place, so all the noise was no surprise.

"Yes! As if the others had any chance, anyways." Willow exclaimed, shaking her fist in victory. Georgia glanced over to where the Durmstrang students were, over on the other side of the Slytherin table, and saw that already Krum was surrounded by fangirls as he was trying to get up to the front of the room. She rolled her eyes at it all, what was so special about him, anyways? She was almost certain that the other champions wouldn't get nearly as much attention as Krum was getting right now.

The room suddenly went silent again as the Goblet turned red again and started spiting sparks furiously. Another piece of parchment spit out and Dumbledore caught it was soon as it was in reach. He opened it and spoke loudly once more.

"The champion for Beauxbatons is… Fleur Delacour!" This wasn't met with as much applause as Krum, but there were still quite a few people clapping for the new champion, including Georgia and her group, until they got a good look at her as she walked up to the front.

"Hey, that's the Veela!" Mercedes exclaimed, staring in disgust at Fleur Delacour as she swayed past them.

"Shut up and stop complaining, here comes the Hogwarts champion." Willow said, because just as Fleur reached where the Goblet was, it had started doing the red flame thing again, and spat out another piece of parchment. Georgia looked over and saw Mercedes crossing her fingers very tightly, and Willow closing her eyes.

"Please not Warrington, oh please no…" Willow muttered.

"And the one you've all been waiting for; the Hogwarts champion is… Cedric Diggory!" Dumbledore announced. Mercedes whooped loudly, Willow dropped to her knees in relief, and Georgia started cheering and clapping as Cedric blushed from over at the Hufflepuff table as his housemates surrounded him. He fought through a crowd of students and took a detour right beside the Slytherin table to avoid his housemates. Georgia was certain that there would be a long night of celebrating for them.

"Hey, Cedric, congrads!" Georgia suddenly got a burst of confidence and congratulated Cedric as he passed by. He shot her a quick smile and mouthed a "thank you" as he quickly made his way to the front and sat with the other champions. Georgia couldn't help but blush and sigh dreamily as she watched him walk away. She didn't even notice the look of shock and dismay on Draco's face.

The applause died down as Dumbledore prepared to say something, but the goblet, instead of the flames dying down, went back up, red again, and another piece of parchment flew out. Georgia gasped in shock, along with half of the room. Dumbledore looked about as confused as everyone else as he looked at the name on the parchment.

"Harry Potter." The headmaster read.

"What?!" Georgia and Draco shouted at the same time.


	37. Chapter 36

"I still refuse to believe it." Georgia grumbled.

"I know, it's madness." Draco agreed.

"An outrage." Georgia shook her head in slightly fake disbelief.

"Oh, look, here he comes now, should we show off our badges?" Draco smirked.

"If it will make you shut up, then go right ahead." Georgia sighed as they spotted Potter coming from lunch in the Great Hall. Georgia was with Draco and a few other Slytherins in the courtyard as they waited for classes to begin again and for the perfect opportunity to strike. As they saw him, surprisingly only accompanied by Granger, they all stood up from sitting on the ground and surrounded him.

"Like them, Potter?" Draco asked as he pointed to the badge pinned to his robes. Georgia looked down on her own, with glowing red text displaying the words "Support Cedric Diggory, The REAL Hogwarts Champion". She felt slightly bad for wearing it because it kinda ticked off Ginny, who has had a crush on Potter for the longest time and despite her brother being on bad terms with Potter at the moment, she was on his side, but how could she not support Cedric?

"And this isn't all that they do- look!" Draco exclaimed, and, taking his cue, everyone, except Georgia, who thought this part was far too immature, tapped their badges and the red text turned to green text spelling out "POTTER STINKS". All the Slytherins started laughing, especially Parkinson and her friends, who were howling with laughter louder than anyone else.

"Oh Parkinson, cut it out, you're embarrassing us." Georgia snapped, and Parkinson shut up almost immediately, causing Potter and Granger to stare for a second in shock, probably due to the fact that a lone Muggle-born had such authority in Slytherin house to make Pansy Parkinson of all people to zip it.

"Want one, Granger?" Draco asked Granger, offering her one. "I've got loads. But don't touch my hand now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up." Draco said. Georgia kicked his leg upon use of the word, making sure that the heel of her shoe got him hard in the shin.

"Funny you say that, considering that there's a girl of the same blood as Hermione right beside you, and you seem to not have a problem with that." Potter snapped. Draco looked speechless, but Georgia took over for him.

"It's because he made the mistake of introducing himself to me and now he's too scared to step a toe out of line, ask Parkinson what happens when you call me the M-word." Georgia said, glancing over at Parkinson, who tensed up slightly.

"And I know this is hard to process, Potter, but Granger here isn't exactly the most loved around here, not only with the prejudiced, but with almost everyone in her year. You aren't very popular with everyone either, you know, so the both of you are going to make Draco here a wittle jealous." Georgia said, intimating a baby voice at the end. "He's jealous that Potter is a champion and he isn't, although we'd all know that he'd die long before the first task." Draco glared at Georgia, who retorted with a smirk.

"Don't think I didn't see that, Potter." Draco said, motioning to Potter's hand, which gripped onto his wand tightly. "Go on, then, Moody's not here to look after you now – do it, if you got the guts." He sniggered.

"Bad idea, Dra- "Georgia started, but it was too late.

"Furnunculus!" Potter yelled.

"Densaugeo!" Draco screamed.

Potter's and Draco's spells hit each other in midair and rebounded off each other; Draco's hitting Granger and Potter's nailing Goyle in the face. Georgia laughed under her breath as Goyle's face broke out in boils and glanced over at Granger. She felt slightly sympathetic for her, as the girl's front teeth had already grown three times their normal size and kept growing as she tired her best to cover her face. Draco seemed satisfied at the sight of Granger like this, so she muttered a "Anteoculatia" and laughed to herself as she walked away from the scene, glancing over her shoulder to have a look at Draco, who was now screaming as antlers spouted from his head.

\------------

"Oh, you should have seen the look on his face! Priceless, it was, I only wish I got it on camera or something. It was like how Ronald was when Ginny put that spider in his room before we went to the World Cup and he ran out of his room screaming like a girl, only better, because the slimy git deserved it." Georgia grinned, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. Ginny and Luna both look amused.

"If I remember correctly, it was you that put the spider in Ron's room." Ginny corrected.

"Whatever you say." Georgia said, but smiled. The three were in their usual hangout of the kitchens, mainly because it was quite this time of day, they got free food, and it would be unsafe if Georgia were to step foot in the Gryffindor common room, based on her somewhat good terms with Malfoy at the moment.

"Well, let's put all this drama talk to the side for now, let's focus on the fact that our first ever trip to Hogsmeade is in less than two weeks." Ginny said.

"Oooh, I almost forgot! First thing I'm doing is trying a nice warm Butterbeer. I've had the cold bottled stuff before, Malfoy brought it back for us once, but I would love to try it warm. If I could try some Firewhisky, now, that would be even better." Georgia smirked.

"I really want to head to Honeydukes, it sounds so amazing, from what my brothers have said." Ginny sighed. Georgia rolled her eyes.

" Everyone wants to go to Honeydukes. Come on, at least tell me that you'll have a butterbeer with me?" Georgia asked.

"Of course. I wouldn't even dream of not doing so." Ginny said. "What about you, Luna? What are you going to do in Hogsmeade?" Ginny asked the blonde, who was carefully listening to them while nibbling lightly on a biscuit.

"Oh, it all depends on weather conditions, but I hope to possibly sight a Blibbering Humdinger. If not, then I'll probably stay inside and go with you guys. Whatever we do, I'm sure we'll have a lovely time." Luna said. Georgia and Ginny exchanged looks before turning to Luna.

"Yes, I'm sure we'll have a good time."


	38. Chapter 37

Georgia wrapped her Slytherin scarf an extra time around her neck as she walked through the cold November air, shivering slightly. The snow crunched underneath her boots as she trekked down to Hogsmeade along with everyone else in her year and above on the bitter Saturday morning, around a week before the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

She stared in awe as she came closer and closer to the small village, full of little cottages with snow covered roofs and smoke coming out of the chimneys. It looked like something straight out of a Christmas card, so quaint and enchanting. It felt great to be out of the castle for once and to somewhere where she could relax for a bit. The school was just too full of tension approaching the first task.

The lovely, warm scent of baking bread and pastries filled her nose as she walked past the bakery on her way to Honeydukes, where she was going to meet Ginny before they go and fetch Luna before she gets lost searching for her Blambering Whatsits and have a butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks. She made a mental note to stop in that bakery before she left the village.

Georgia could tell what building Honeydukes was without even needing to look at the sign, due to the fact that dozens of students were surrounding the outside, either nibbling on their just-purchased sweets or staring in the windows while talking to their friends. She pushed open the door into the warmth of the inside, causing her glasses to fog up. A chime of a bell near the door, obviously charmed to signal when someone entered, was heard as she entered the shop, but was barely heard over the commotion in the room. At least twenty students were crammed into the small shop, all checking out the stacks upon stacks of candy and sweets. From Cockroach Clusters to Cauldron Cakes, from Drooble's Best Blowing Gum to Acid Pops, you name it, it was there.

Even through the crowd, she spotted Ginny right away, not that she was that hard to spot anyways, with her smooth flaming red hair that Georgia wished she had. She pushed and shoved her way through the other kids to where Ginny was standing, looking over the shelves.

"My brothers were right; this place is amazing." She sighed as she filled her arms up with as much candy as she could carry. Georgia grabbed all the Peppermint Toads off the shelf and tossed them into a tote bag that she made sure to bring because she had a feeling that she would spend a lot of her pocket money here. She also made sure to take as many Chocoballs as she could, because once, Draco brought her back one, and she'd been craving them ever since. From Sugar Quills to Honeydukes Chocolate, she made sure she had a little bit of everything.

After her bag became extremely heavy and almost filled to the brim, she walked over and stood in line at the till, with a lot more candy than Ginny had. She made sure to make a mental note to share at least a bit of her hall with her red-haired friend. Her candy ended up costing her almost half of her pocket money, but at least she had enough sugar to last her the rest of the year, and she had a feeling that she would need it.

After joining Ginny again at the front door, the two left the store and made their way around the town, looking at all the businesses that the little hamlet had to offer, and in the meantime, were keeping an eye out for Luna, who had determined that the weather was just right to look for whatever she said those creatures were, and was wandering around the place. They saw Fred and George with their friend Lee Jordan coming out of Zonko's Joke Shop, which wasn't a surprise to see at all, Willow could be seen from the window looking inside the Quidditch supplies shop, and Mercedes was just going into the tea shop, accompanied by a boy that she couldn't identify.

They found Luna by the edge of the village, sitting in the show, staring into the forest. She didn't look the least startled when Georgia and Ginny sat down beside her.

"Did you see one yet?" Ginny asked, leaning her head on Luna's shoulder.

"I thought I caught a glimpse of one about ten minutes ago now, but I should have known better, Blibbering Humdingers don't like crowds and noise. There wasn't a good chance of me spotting one. Besides, I'm quite cold after sitting in this snow. Let's go warm up. How was the candy store? Any good?" Luna asked, pushing herself from off the ground and letting Ginny lead the way to The Three Broomsticks. The three made their way down the snow-covered street to The Three Broomsticks, the local pub that Ginny's brothers told her to go to.

They entered the pub and Georgia sighed at the warm heat filling the building, much warmer than Honeydukes was. They took a seat at the bar as Ginny asked the barmaid for three butterbeers. The three mingled slightly as the barmaid return with three foaming mugs of warm golden-toffee coloured liquid. Georgia took a small sip of the foaming drink and found her taste buds being introduced to a delicious mix of butterscotch, cream, and a hint of toffee. Georgia never tasted something quite like it but was ever glad that someone put these flavours together.

She quickly had another sip as the door opened and Draco walked in, accompanied by Zabini and Nott, who were both pretty close friends of his. Georgia turned around and waved to the trio, and Malfoy pointed at her and laughed cockily.

"Nice mustache, Newton." He smirked. Georgia knew immediately what he was talking about, and quickly licked off the foam from above her lip, blushing for some reason. Ginny saw all this and smirked, which Georgia responded to by rolling her eyes.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you are in love with your best friend." Ginny mocked.

"Oh really, I don't think you should be talking, Mrs. Potter." Georgia retaliated. Ginny turned as red as her hair, before making sure nobody else around them heard that, then shot Georgia a dirty look before returning to her Butterbeer. Georgia laughed, and glanced over at Luna, who didn't notice a thing as she was too busy staring at something behind the bar. Georgia wanted to see what she was looking at but changed her mind because it was most likely something she didn't want to know about.

Instead, she turned her attention to where Draco and his friends were now sitting, and got carried away and let her mind drift off as she absentmindedly stared at her best mate. Everything was just so… perfect about him, although she never paid any attention to his looks before very much, excluding the World Cup, of course. She thought of the Yule Ball coming up in a little over a month, and what would happen if he were to ask her, although she was almost certain it would never happen, he was probably going to go with someone in his year. Hell, he'd go with Astoria Greengrass, who was two years younger and who he never expressed much interest in, before her. The only way he'd ask her is if Pansy was at his arm begging him to take her.

"By now, you're just contradicting yourself." Ginny sighed, leaning on Georgia's shoulder, staring in the same direction.

"Shove it, Weasley." Georgia snapped with a smile on her face.

"Come on, let's get out of here, I can't bare seeing you undress him with your eyes. As your friend, I worry for your sanity the longer you stare at him." Ginny said, chugging down the rest of her drink and hopping off the barstool. Georgia followed, hesitating but leaving without a second glance. Ginny was right, she might just be going insane.

.o0o.

The whole school was down in an area built specifically for this event, down by the Forbidden Forest. The crowd was buzzing with excitement, as the First Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament was due to start any moment. Georgia and Mercedes sat together, just the two of them as Willow was viewing the event with her Quidditch teammates, including Malfoy, although against his will, and Ginny and Luna were with Ginny's brothers. Around them was the whole of Slytherin House, all equipped with their POTTER STINKS badges, all lit up green.

Georgia grabbed another Jelly Slug from her bag and bit off its head, offering Mercedes the tail end, who shook her head.

"No way, no thanks, no offence, but I know what happens if both of us would eat at opposite ends at the same time." Mercedes said.

"That we'd fight over who gets to eat more and it would end very badly in the end?" Georgia asked.

"You read my mind."

"Wise choice." Georgia smirked, taking another bite and leaning back in her seat, putting her feet onto of the chair in front of her, which was occupied and earned her a dirty look from the fifth-year in the seat. Mercedes absentmindedly played with her hair, twisting it around her finger.

"I'm thinking of dying it." Sadie said randomly. Georgia looked at her.

"Pardon?"

"My hair. The ombre's getting old, I've had it since I was nine, black to blonde like this. I thought it was cool at the time, and Mum was more than willing to let me go get it done. It's professionally done, at a Muggle place, not Charmed or anything." Mercedes said. Georgia shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to think of the unusual conversation.

"Oh, cool." She said simply.

"Yeah. I think it's getting kinda boring. Maybe if I did it light brown, maybe black, I think it would look nice like that." Mercedes sighed.

"I like it the way it is. You look cute." Georgia replied. Mercedes looked bewildered, then flattered.

"Oh, um, thanks." Mercedes mumbled. Georgia desperately wished for the First Task to begin so she could be recued from the awkwardness following the strange conversation. Fortunately, her wishes were answered as the voice of Ludo Bagman blasted through the arena.

"Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen, to the First Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament! Today, the Champions will be facing a different dragon guarding a pile of eggs, among those eggs, is a single golden egg. Their goal is to retrieve the golden egg faster than their fellow Champions, and as unscathed as possible. The Champion with the fastest time and least penalties will win the First Task. Now, first out, facing the Swedish Short-Snout, is Hogwarts's first Champion, Cedric Diggory!" Ludo Bagman shouted as a giant, fuming, scaly dragon of slivery-blue was brought into the arena, along with a pile of eggs, and delicately placed on top of the huge pile of white, Spaniel-sized eggs, was the smaller yet much more noticeable golden egg.

Cedric came into the arena from a tent where the Champions were getting ready and was greeted by applause and cheering from most of the crowd, before taking a good look at the dragon, and freezing in his spot for a millisecond.

"Come on, Cedric!" Mercedes shouted, turning her badge from POTTER STINKS to SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY with a press of the fingers and waving a Hufflepuff scarf in the air that seemingly came out of nowhere.

"Where in the hell did you get that?" Georgia asked, bewildered.

"Nicked it." Mercedes shrugged, before grabbing another Jelly Slug and taking a bite out of it. Georgia looked at her friend for a good five seconds with a very confused look before shrugging and returning her attention to Cedric and the dragon, where now Cedric had proceeded to Transfigure an egg from the pile into an actual Spaniel, then ran laps around the place, and distracting the dragon long enough so Cedric could go for the pile.

Ten minutes of careful navigation landed him almost to the pile, but, all of a sudden, the dragon breathed out a large puff of blue flames that killed the dog. Georgia gasped and held her breath as the dragon caught sight of him. Everyone, especially Cedric, knew it was now or never to get the egg, so he made a bolt for the pile, as the dragon breathed out flames behind him. He scrambled up the pile faster than she had seen anyone climb up something, and grabbed the egg.

He slid down the pile, holding the egg up in victory, sprinting to the tent, but not before the dragon breathed out fire in his direction and he looked back in surprize, and he got nailed in the face, causing a huge, painful-looking burn all over his face. Everyone gasped in shock and Georgia was sure that Mercedes was praying with tears in her eyes next to her.

Georgia sighed in relief as Cedric safely made it the rest of the way into the tent before the dragon could get him again. Sadie was crying of relief, but hid her face as she saw Georgia look at her. Georgia smirked, before rubbing her friend on the shoulder.

"Everything's fine, Cedric's alive, don't worry, you can still go propose to him. Unlikely that he'll say yes, but it's worth a shot." Georgia sneered jokingly. Mercedes whined and kicked Georgia in the shin. She winced but smiled. "But honestly, that was intense." Georgia admitted.

"I'm not sure I can watch any more." Mercedes groaned.

"Don't worry, everyone else is fair game. It'll actually be good if Krum was burned alive, maybe Willow would stop obsessing over him every time she saw him." Georgia smirked.

"Not sure that would work, she'd cry about his death for the next two years." Sadie laughed.

"It's worth a shot." Georgia grinned as the next Champion, Fleur Delacour, was coming out to face her dragon.

"Oooh, I kinda wanna stay and see if pretty Veela girl rips her pretty little silk dress." Saide exclaimed. Georgia laughed.

"To be honest, I do too."


End file.
